Schnabel Uta, Handorf Oliver, Winter Hauke, Weihe Thomas, Weit Christoph, Schäfer Jan, Stachowiak Jörg, Boehm Daniela, Below Harald, Bourke Paula, Ehlbeck Jörg
Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology, Greifswald, Germany.
School of Food Science and Environmental Health, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Front Nutr. 2021 Jan 27;7:627483. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2020.627483. eCollection 2020.
This study evaluated the impact of a defined plasma treated water (PTW) when applied to various stages within fresh-cut endive processing. The quality characteristic responses were investigated to establish the impact of the PTW unit processes and where PTW may be optimally applied in a model process line to retain or improve produce quality. Different stages of application of PTW within the washing process were investigated and compared to tap water and chlorine dioxide. Fresh-cut endive ( L.) samples were analyzed for retention of food quality characteristics. Measurements included color, texture, and nitrate quantification. Effects on tissue surface and cell organelles were observed through scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Overall, the endive quality characteristics were retained by incorporating PTW in the washing process. Furthermore, promising results for color and texture characteristics were observed, which were supported by the microscopic assays of the vegetal tissue. While ion chromatography detected high concentrations of nitrite and nitrate in PTW, these did not affect the nitrate concentration of the lettuce tissue post-processing and were below the concentrations within EU regulations. These results provide a pathway to scale up the industrial application of PTW to improve and retain quality characteristic retention of fresh leafy products, whilst also harnessing the plasma functionalized water as a process intervention for reducing microbial load at multiple points, whether on the food surface, within the process water or on food-processing surfaces.
本研究评估了特定的等离子体处理水（PTW）应用于鲜切菊苣加工各个阶段时的影响。研究了质量特性响应，以确定PTW单元工艺的影响，以及PTW在模型生产线中何处可最佳应用以保持或提高产品质量。研究了PTW在洗涤过程中不同阶段的应用，并与自来水和二氧化氯进行了比较。对鲜切菊苣（L.）样品进行了食品质量特性保留情况的分析。测量包括颜色、质地和硝酸盐定量。通过扫描电子显微镜和原子力显微镜观察对组织表面和细胞器的影响。总体而言，通过在洗涤过程中加入PTW，菊苣的质量特性得以保留。此外，在颜色和质地特性方面观察到了有前景的结果，植物组织的显微镜分析也证实了这一点。虽然离子色谱法检测到PTW中含有高浓度的亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐，但这些并未影响加工后生菜组织中的硝酸盐浓度，且低于欧盟法规规定的浓度。这些结果为扩大PTW的工业应用提供了一条途径，以改善和保持新鲜叶菜产品的质量特性保留，同时利用等离子体功能化水作为一种工艺干预措施，在多个点减少微生物负荷，无论是在食品表面、工艺用水中还是食品加工表面。
