Effect of Nonthermal Plasma-Activated Water on Quality and Antioxidant Activity of Fresh-Cut Kiwifruit

• Published in: IEEE transactions on plasma science 2019-11, Vol.47 (11), p.4811-4817
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yao, Chen, Ruocheng, Liu, Dongping, Wang, Wenchun, Niu, Jinhai, Xia, Yang, Qi, Zhihua, Zhao, Zhiguo, Song, Ying
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidant enzyme; Antioxidants; Biochemistry; Catalase; Enzymes; Food preservation; Food safety; fresh-cut kiwifruit (FCK); Hydrogen peroxide; inactivation; Kiwifruit; Microorganisms; Peroxidase; plasma-activated water (PAW); reactive oxygen species (ROS); Safety; Sterilization; Superoxide dismutase; Water quality
• ISSN: 0093-3813; 1939-9375
• DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2019.2904298

Recently, plasma-activated water (PAW) has received extensive attention in food safety field due to its advantages of eco-friendly and high sterilization efficiency. In this paper, the effects of PAW on microbe loads and quality of fresh-cut kiwifruit (FCK) were studied, and the preservation mechanism of PAW on FCK was explored. A 1 mL of PAW and 1 mL of sterile water as control sample were separately sprayed on FCK and stored at 4 °C for 8 days. Compared to the control sample, the microbial population of FCK was reduced by approximately 1.8 log CFU/g after the PAW treatment. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) in PAW-treated FCK samples were improved. Further test results showed that H 2 O 2 and O 2 − accumulation rates of PAW-treated FCK were slower than that of the control sample. Finally, by analyzing the effect of pH and H 2 O 2 on the activity of antioxidant enzymes in FCK, it was found that either pH or H 2 O 2 treatment could enhance the activities of antioxidant enzymes in FCK. Concerning the fruit quality, our measurement shows that the PAW treatment had no significant effect on the firmness and b^\ast value of FCK.