Analytical Center, Campus Manaus Center, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Amazonas (IFAM), Manaus/AM, Brazil.
School of Agrarian Science, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus/AM, Brazil.
Food Res Int. 2023 May;167:112663. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112663. Epub 2023 Mar 11.
Thermal processes can be very damaging to the nutritional and sensory quality of foods. Non-thermal technologies have been applied to reduce the impact of heat on food, reducing processing time and increasing its efficiency. Among many non-thermal technologies, cold plasma is an emerging technology with several potential applications in food processing. This technique can be used to preserve and sanitize food products, and act as a pre-treatment for drying, extraction, cooking, curing, and hydrogenation of foods. Furthermore, the reacting plasma species formed during the plasma application can change positively the sensory and nutritional aspects of foods. The aim of this review is to analyze the main findings on the application of cold plasma as a pre-treatment technology to improve food processing. In its current maturity stage, the cold plasma technology is suitable for reducing drying time, increasing extraction efficiency, as well as curing meats. This technology can convert unsaturated into saturated fats, without forming trans isomers, which can be an alternative to healthier foods. Although many advantages come from cold plasma applications, this technology still has several challenges, such as the scaling up, especially in increasing productivity and treating foods with large formats. Optimization and control of the effects of plasma on nutritional and sensory quality are still under investigation. Further improvement of the technology will come with a higher knowledge of the effects of plasma on the different chemical groups present in foods, and with the development of bigger or more powerful plasma systems.
热处理会对食品的营养和感官质量造成严重损害。非热技术已被应用于减少热对食品的影响，缩短加工时间，提高效率。在众多非热技术中，冷等离子体是一种新兴技术，在食品加工中有多种潜在的应用。该技术可用于保存和消毒食品，并可作为干燥、提取、烹饪、腌制和氢化食品的预处理。此外，在等离子体应用过程中形成的反应等离子体种类可以积极改变食品的感官和营养方面。本综述旨在分析冷等离子体作为预处理技术在改善食品加工中的主要应用。在当前的成熟阶段，冷等离子体技术适合于缩短干燥时间、提高提取效率以及腌制肉类。该技术可以将不饱和脂肪转化为饱和脂肪，而不会形成反式异构体，这可以作为更健康食品的替代品。尽管冷等离子体的应用有许多优势，但该技术仍存在一些挑战，例如扩大规模，特别是提高生产力和处理大格式食品的能力。等离子体对营养和感官质量的影响的优化和控制仍在研究中。随着对等离子体对食品中不同化学基团的影响的进一步了解，以及更大或更强等离子体系统的开发，该技术将得到进一步改进。
