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Cold Plasma–Based Hurdle Interventions: New Strategies for Improving Food Safety

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Abstract

Global food production sustainability and the demand for fresh and nutritious food necessitate the development of novel technologies to provide food with a long shelf life. Hurdle technologies combing several interventions can ensure microbial safety without inducing notable changes to food quality. Cold plasma, as a promising nonthermal technology, has increasingly attracted attention in food industry. Recently, cold plasma–based hurdles have been proposed as novel intervention strategies for microbial decontamination. This review summarizes currently existing cold plasma–based hurdle strategies, including thermal treatment and nonthermal techniques (e.g., organic acids, essential oils, ultrasound) that have been reported in the literature. In addition, we highlight some critical issues, including the microbial stress response, the processing parameters, and the effects on food quality, that need to be taken into account during the optimization and implementation of cold plasma–based hurdles. Cold plasma–based hurdles overcome certain limitations of individual cold plasma treatment to improve the inactivation efficacy and retain the maximum food quality attributes.

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Funding

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 31772079) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0400403).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food Processing, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Xinyu Liao, Aliyu Idris Muhammad, Xingqian Ye, Donghong Liu & Tian Ding

  2. Fuli Institute of Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Xinyu Liao & Tian Ding

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    P. J. Cullen

  4. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Bayero University, Kano. P.M.B 3011, Kano-Nigeria, Nigeria

    Aliyu Idris Muhammad

  5. School of Life Sciences, Yantai University, Yantai, 264000, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Zhumao Jiang

  6. Ningbo Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, 315100, China

    Donghong Liu & Tian Ding

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  1. Xinyu Liao
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  2. P. J. Cullen
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  7. Tian Ding
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Correspondence to Tian Ding.

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Author PJ Cullen is CEO of PlasmaLeap Technologies, a cold plasma technology company.

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Liao, X., Cullen, P.J., Muhammad, A.I. et al. Cold Plasma–Based Hurdle Interventions: New Strategies for Improving Food Safety. Food Eng Rev 12, 321–332 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-020-09222-3

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