Birjandi Toroghi Zohreh, Niazmand Razieh, Moradinezhad Farid, Bayat Hassan
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture University of Birjand Birjand Iran.
Department of Food Chemistry Research Institute of Food Science and Technology (RIFST) Mashhad Iran.
Food Sci Nutr. 2024 Jul 23;12(10):7417-7427. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.4252. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Saffron, similar to numerous other agricultural commodities, is susceptible to microbial contamination during cultivation and postharvest handling. Cold plasma treatment has emerged as an effective method for microbial inactivation while preserving food quality. The aim of this research was to preserve the color integrity and minimize the presence of microorganisms in dried saffron stigma by implementing cold plasma pre-treatment. Process parameters were optimized using the response surface method (RSM), considering the type of atmosphere (argon and air), plasma exposure time (1, 5, and 10 min), and plasma power (40, 70, and 100 W) as independent variables. The objectives were to maximize crocin content and minimize the total microbial load. The analysis of the response surface revealed that the argon atmosphere had a more significant impact on reducing microbial contamination than air, and an increase in plasma exposure time led to a decrease in microbial load. The maximum reduction in microbial load, by 0.9 logarithmic cycles compared to the control, was achieved with a 10-min treatment at 40 W power. Extended plasma exposure durations led to a minor reduction in the color, taste, aroma, and antioxidant properties of saffron stigma. Specifically, the color, taste, and aroma decreased by 0.5%, 0.5%, and 0.08%, respectively, with longer plasma exposure times. The antioxidant activity decreased by 0.64% with prolonged exposure time. However, the plasma-treated samples did not show any signs of , mold, or yeast. Furthermore, our findings demonstrated that the type of atmosphere significantly influenced the reduction of infection and maintenance of saffron stigma's color quality. Cold plasma pretreatment holds promise as a viable method for preserving the physicochemical attributes of saffron while effectively reducing microbial contamination.
藏红花与许多其他农产品一样，在种植和收获后处理过程中容易受到微生物污染。冷等离子体处理已成为一种在保持食品质量的同时实现微生物灭活的有效方法。本研究的目的是通过实施冷等离子体预处理来保持干燥藏红花柱头的颜色完整性，并尽量减少微生物的存在。使用响应面法（RSM）对工艺参数进行了优化，将气氛类型（氩气和空气）、等离子体暴露时间（1、5和10分钟）和等离子体功率（40、70和100瓦）作为自变量。目标是使藏红花素含量最大化，并使总微生物负荷最小化。响应面分析表明，氩气气氛比空气对减少微生物污染的影响更大，等离子体暴露时间的增加导致微生物负荷降低。在40瓦功率下处理10分钟，微生物负荷最大降低了0.9个对数周期，与对照相比。延长等离子体暴露时间会导致藏红花柱头的颜色、味道、香气和抗氧化性能略有下降。具体而言，随着等离子体暴露时间延长，颜色、味道和香气分别下降了0.5%、0.5%和0.08%。抗氧化活性随着暴露时间延长下降了0.64%。然而，经等离子体处理的样品未显示出任何霉菌或酵母菌的迹象。此外，我们的研究结果表明，气氛类型对减少感染和保持藏红花柱头的颜色质量有显著影响。冷等离子体预处理有望成为一种可行的方法，既能保持藏红花的物理化学特性，又能有效减少微生物污染。
