Cold Plasma as a Novel Food Processing Technology

Abstract

Plasma (an energetic ionized gas) is widely used for industrial materials processing and has recently shown promise as a sanitizing tool for food safety applications. This is largely due to new technologies that easily produce nonthermal plasmas (NTPs) at normal atmospheric pressure. Originally developed for use on delicate electronics, heat-sensitive medical devices and in biomedical and dental applications, a growing body of literature is evaluating NTP for application to foods and beverages as a sanitizing and/or conditioning step. Several different NTP technologies have been developed, each with different advantages and disadvantages. Many of these are entirely waterless and therefore suitable for low-moisture foods. Others combine NTP with mist droplets or bulk water to create plasma-