Development of a microfluidic device to enrich and detect zearalenone in food using quantum dot-embedded molecularly imprinted polymers.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of certain moulds, prevalent in 60-80% of food crops and many processed products but challenging to eliminate. Consuming mycotoxin-contaminated food and feed can lead to various adverse effects on humans and livestock. Therefore, testing mycotoxin residue levels is critical to ensure food safety. Gold standard analytical methods rely on liquid chromatography coupled with optical detectors or mass spectrometers, which are high-cost with limited capacity. This study reported the successful development of a microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" device to enrich and detect zearalenone in food samples based on the fluorescence quenching effect of quantum dots and selective affinity of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The dummy template and functional polymer were synthesized and characterized, and the detailed microfluidic chip design and optimization of the flow conditions in the enrichment module were discussed. The device achieved an enrichment factor of 9.6 (±0.5) in 10 min to quantify zearalenone spiked in food with high recoveries (91-105%) at 1-10 mg kg-1, covering the concerned residue levels in the regulations. Each sample-to-answer test took only 20 min, involving 3 min of manual operation and no advanced equipment. This microfluidic device was mostly reusable, with a replaceable detection module compatible with fluorescence measurement using a handheld fluorometer. To our best knowledge, the reported device was the first application of an MIP-based microfluidic sensor for detecting mycotoxin in real food samples, providing a novel, rapid, portable, and cost-effective tool for monitoring mycotoxin contamination for food safety and security.

Influence of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on the structural, functional and digestive properties of chickpea protein isolate.

Chickpea protein (CPI) is a promising dietary protein and potential substitute for soy protein in food product development due to its high protein content and low allergenicity. However, CPI possesses denser tertiary and quaternary structures and contains certain amount of anti-nutritional factors, both of which constrain its functional properties and digestibility. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJ) as a non-thermal method for enhancing the functional characteristics and digestibility of CPI. In this study, the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species generated by the APPJ treatment led to protein oxidation and increased carbonyl and di-tyrosine contents. At the same time, the secondary, tertiary and microstructural structures of CPI were changed. The solubility, water holding capacity, fat absorption capacity, emulsifying capacity and foaming capacity of CPI were significantly improved after 30 s APPJ treatment, and a higher storage modulus in rheology was observed. Additionally, it was observed that the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of APPJ-treated CPI increased significantly from 44.85 ± 0.6 % to 50.2 ± 0.59 % following in vitro simulated gastric and intestinal digestion, marking a noteworthy improvement of 11.93 %. These findings indicate that APPJ processing can enhance the functional and digestive properties of CPI through structural modification and expand its potential applications within the food industry.

Chemically cross-linked keratin and nanochitosan based sorbents for heavy metals remediation.

Biosorbents for water remediation were prepared using keratin biopolymer cross-linked with nanochitosan (NC). Keratin proteins were dissolved using reducing agents and NC was incorporated with concentrations of 1, 3 and 5 % individually into the keratin solution. The mixtures were thermally treated at 75°C overnight, which promoted the formation of ester bonds between the hydroxyl groups of nanochitosan and the carboxylic groups of the keratin biopolymer. The resulting keratin derived biosorbents were characterized by X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, confirming the cross-linking between keratin and nanochitosan. The chicken feathers keratin (CFK) surface modifications with nanochitosan were examined with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, scanning and transmission electron microscopies. The sorption capacity of biosorbents was tested for eight different metals simultaneously at different contact times (15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 280 mins) and pH (5.5, 7.5 and 8.5), including arsenic, selenium, chromium, nickel, cobalt, lead, cadmium and zinc, using simulated industrial wastewater water containing 600 µgl-1 concentration of each metal. The synthesized environmentally benign biosorbents exhibited biosorption of metals upto 98 % at pH 7.5 and a contact time of 24 h, showing their potential for industrial wastewater remediation.

In-Package Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatment and Storage Effects on Membrane Integrity, Oxidative Stress, and Esterase Activity of Listeria monocytogenes.

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment can reduce bacterial pathogens in foods. Additional reduction in bacterial cells during storage after ACP treatment was previously reported. The underlying mechanisms of bacterial inactivation during ACP treatment and post-treatment storage need to be understood. This study investigated the changes in the morpho-physiological status of Listeria monocytogenes on ham surfaces after post-ACP-treatment storage of 1 h, 24 h, and 7 days at 4 °C. The membrane integrity, intracellular oxidative stress, and esterase activity of L. monocytogenes were evaluated by flow cytometry. L. monocytogenes cells were under high oxidative stress conditions with slightly permeabilized membranes after 1 h of post-ACP-treatment storage according to the flow cytometry data. During the extended storage of 24 h, the percentage of cells with a slightly permeabilized membrane increased; subsequently, the percentage of cells with intact membranes decreased. The percentage of L. monocytogenes cells with intact membranes decreased to <5% with a treatment time of 10 min and after 7 days of post-treatment storage. In addition, the percentage of L. monocytogenes cells under oxidation stress decreased to <1%, whereas the percentage of cells with completely permeabilized membranes increased to more than 90% for samples treated with ACP for 10 min and 7 days of post-treatment storage. With increased ACP treatment time, for 1 h stored samples, the percentage of cells with active esterase and slightly permeabilized membranes increased. However, during the extended post-treatment storage of 7 days, the percentage of cells with active esterase and slightly permeabilized membranes decreased to below 1%. At the same time, the percentage of cells with permeabilized membrane increased to more than 92% with an increase in ACP treatment time of 10 min. In conclusion, the higher inactivation after 24 h and 7 days post-ACP-treatment storage compared to 1 h stored samples correlated with the loss of esterase activity and membrane integrity of L. monocytogenes cells.

Enhanced Gel Properties of Duck Myofibrillar Protein by Plasma-Activated Water: Through Mild Structure Modifications.

This study assessed the gel properties and conformational changes of duck myofibrillar protein (DMP) affected by plasma-activated water (PAW) generated at various discharge times (0 s, 10 s, 20 s, 30 s, and 40 s). With the treatment of PAW-20 s, the gel strength and water-holding capacity (WHC) of DMP gels were significantly increased when compared to the control group. Throughout the heating process, dynamic rheology revealed that the PAW-treated DMP had a higher storage modulus than the control. The hydrophobic interactions between protein molecules were significantly improved by PAW, resulting in a more ordered and homogeneous gel microstructure. The increased sulfhydryl and carbonyl content in DMP indicated a higher degree of protein oxidation with PAW treatment. Additionally, the circular dichroism spectroscopy demonstrated that PAW induced α-helix and ß-turn transformed to ß-sheet in DMP. Surface hydrophobicity, fluorescence spectroscopy, and UV absorption spectroscopy suggested that PAW altered DMP's tertiary structure, although the electrophoretic pattern indicated that the primary structure of DMP was mostly unaffected. These results suggest that PAW can improve the gel properties of DMP through mild alteration in its conformation.

Rapid detection of three mycotoxins in animal feed materials using competitive ELISA-based origami microfluidic paper analytical device (µPAD).

We report the development of a competitive ELISA-based origami microfluidic paper-based analytical device (µPAD) for the detection of mycotoxins in animal feed material. The µPAD was patterned using the wax printing technique with the design of a testing pad in the middle and two absorption pads at the side. Anti-mycotoxin antibodies were effectively immobilized on chitosan-glutaraldehyde-modified sample reservoirs in the µPAD. The determination of zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, and T-2 toxin in corn flour was successfully achieved by performing competitive ELISA on the µPAD in 20 min. Colorimetric results were easily distinguished by the naked eye with a detection limit of 1 µg/mL for all three mycotoxins. The µPAD integrated with competitive ELISA holds potential for practical applications in the livestock industry for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective detection of different mycotoxins in animal feed materials.

Effect of Plasma-Activated Water Bubbles on Fusarium graminearum, Deoxynivalenol, and Germination of Naturally Infected Barley during Steeping.

Contamination of barley by deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium graminearum, causes considerable financial loss to the grain and malting industries. In this study, two atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) reactors were used to produce plasma-activated water (PAW) bubbles. The potential of PAW bubbles for the steeping of naturally infected barley (NIB) during the malting process was investigated. The PAW bubbles produced by treating water for 30 min using a bubble spark discharge (BSD) at low temperature resulted in the greatest concentration of oxygen-nitrogen reactive species (RONS). This treatment resulted in 57.3% DON degradation compared with 36.9% in the control sample; however, the same treatment reduced germination significantly (p < 0.05). Direct BSD ACP treatment for 20 min at low temperature and indirect treatment for 30 min increased the percentage of germinated rootlets of the seedlings compared with the control. Considering both the DON reduction and germination improvement of barley seeds, continuous jet ACP treatment for 30 min performed better than the other treatments used in this study. At higher temperature of PAW bubbles, the concentration of RONS was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced. Based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis and fungal culture tests, the PAW bubble treatment did not significantly reduce infection of NIB. Nonetheless, this study provides useful information for the malting industry for PAW treatment optimization and its use in barley steeping for DON reduction and germination improvement.

Nano-modified feather keratin derived green and sustainable biosorbents for the remediation of heavy metals from synthetic wastewater.

In this study, we employed a facile method to synthesize feather keratin derived biosorbents using water dispersed graphene oxide. The successful cross-linking of feather keratin with graphene oxide was investigated through X-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy (XPS), scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The modifications resulted in increased surface area of the keratin proteins with substantial morphological changes including the development of cracked and rough patches on the surface. The chicken feather keratin/graphene oxide based biosorbents exhibited excellent performance for the simultaneous removal of metal oxyanions including arsenic (As), selenium (Se), chromium (Cr) and cations including nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) up to 99%, from polluted synthetic water containing 600 µgL-1 of each metal concentration in 24 h. The insights into the biosorption mechanism revealed that the electrostatic interaction, chelation and complexation primarily contributed to the removal of multiple heavy metal ions in a single treatment. This study has demonstrated that modification of chicken feather keratin with graphene oxide is an effective way to improve its sorption capacity for removing multiple trace metal ions from contaminated water.

Recent development in low-moisture foods: Microbial safety and thermal process.

Foodborne outbreaks and recalls of pathogen-contaminated low-moisture foods (LMFs, foods with water activity at 25 °C < 0.85) have led to numerous scientific studies on bacterial persistence, as well as newly developed industrial interventions. Conducting microbial tests of LMFs, lab tests, or validation studies in pilot plans requires complete information on protocols and parameters that need to be aware of-in particular, understanding how factors influence the thermal resistance of bacterial pathogen in LMFs is critical in designing any thermal processes. This review provides detailed information on the general protocols of microbial studies of LMFs: from pertinent pathogen identification to microbial validation studies. In particular, it reviewed the detailed procedures (e.g., lawn-harvest method), analytical protocols (e.g., recovery and enumeration of pathogens in LMFs), and specialized tools that have been utilized (even widely accepted) in laboratory-based microbial studies of LMFs. It also summarized the factors that influence the microbial validation studies. This article could support the intervention of existing pasteurization processes in the LMF industry, promoting the microbial safety of LMFs.

Synergistically enhanced Salmonella Typhimurium reduction by sequential treatment of organic acids and atmospheric cold plasma and the mechanism study.

Salmonella, a foodborne pathogen, has been frequently associated with recalls of fresh food products, including poultry meat products. Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is a novel non-thermal technology, which has potential to reduce pathogens in food products. This study demonstrates the synergistic interactions of food grade organic acids (i.e., lactic acid (LA) or gallic acid (GA)) and ACP to inactivate Salmonella enterica Typhimurium ATCC 13311 inoculated on polycarbonate membrane filter paper and poultry meat surface. Organic acids were used in the form of a spray to enhance dispersion on samples surface. The sequential treatment of organic acid followed by ACP synergistically reduced S. Typhimurium on poultry meat surface. Irrespective of the type of organic acid, an average reduction of more than 3.5 log CFU/cm2 in S. Typhimurium on filter paper was obtained, when a combination of 10 mM LA or GA with an ACP exposure of 30 s was tested. However, the individual treatments of LA, GA, and ACP resulted in only 0.4, 0.3, 1.2 log CFU/cm2 reduction in S. Typhimurium, respectively. On poultry meat surface, a higher level of organic acid concentration (i.e., 50 mM) in combination with 30 s ACP was required to achieve more than 2.5 log CFU/cm2 reduction in S. Typhimurium. Our investigation on inactivation mechanisms revealed that the sequential treatment of LA or GA with ACP resulted in a significantly higher level of membrane permeability and membrane lipid peroxidation in S. Typhimurium cells. Additionally, the combined treatment significantly reduced the cell metabolic activity and affected the intracellular reactive oxygen species level of S. Typhimurium. In summary, this study demonstrated the potential synergistic benefits of combining organic acids and ACP to achieve a higher level of bacterial inactivation.

Pre-treatment by combining atmospheric cold plasma and pH-shifting to prepare pea protein concentrate powders with improved gelling properties.

Pea proteins are increasingly used as an alternative for soy protein, however, structuring of pea protein remains a challenge due to its low gelling capacity. This study reports a pea protein pre-treatment that combines atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) and pH-shifting to improve pea protein gelling property. Specifically, the pea protein concentrate was treated by ACP at pH 12 for 10 min, followed by pH-shifting to neutral and spray-drying to prepare PPCtreated powders. Although, pea protein concentrate did not form a self-standing gel until 95 °C for 60 min, PPCtreated suspension (14 wt%) formed gels with good mechanical properties (compressive strength: 2.81 kPa) by heating at 70 °C within 10-20 min. The strength of the gel made from PPCtreated was further increased to 3.70 and 5.53 kPa when raising the temperature to 80 and 90 °C, respectively. The protein characterizations revealed that the combined ACP and pH-shifting treatment partially unfolded pea protein by altering the tertiary structure, and then the active species produced by ACP facilitated the formation of protein aggregates with increased surface hydrophobicity. During heating, the aggregates served as active building blocks to form more ordered three-dimensional gel networks via hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. The greatly increased gel strength and the powder form will allow pea protein to be widely used as a gelling ingredient in many food formulations. The capacity to form gels at a reduced temperature than pea protein denaturation temperature (∼95 °C) will enable food texture development by conventional cooking.

Mechanisms of deoxynivalenol (DON) degradation during different treatments: a review.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the main trichothecenes, that causes health-related issues in humans and animals and imposes considerable financial loss to the food industry each year. Numerous treatments have been reported in the literature on the degradation of DON in food products. These treatments include thermal, chemical, biological/enzymatic, irradiation, light, ultrasound, ozone, and atmospheric cold plasma treatments. Each of these methods has different degradation efficacy and degrades DON by a distinct mechanism, which leads to various degradation byproducts with different toxicity. This manuscript focuses to review the degradation of DON by the aforementioned treatments, the chemical structure and toxicity of the byproducts, and the degradation pathway of DON. Based on the type of treatment, DON can be degraded to norDONs A-F, DON lactones, and ozonolysis products or transformed into de-epoxy deoxynivalenol, DON-3-glucoside, 3-acetyl-DON, 7-acetyl-DON, 15-acetyl-DON, 3-keto-DON, or 3-epi-DON. DON is a major problem for the grain industry and the studies focusing on DON degradation mechanisms could be helpful to select the best method and overcome the DON contamination in grains.

Water sorption characteristics of freeze-dried bacteria in low-moisture foods.

Water sorption isotherms of bacteria reflect the water activity with the change of moisture content of bacteria at a specific temperature. The temperature-dependency of water activity change can help to understand the thermal resistance of bacteria during a thermal process. Thermal resistance of bacteria in low-moisture foods may differ significantly depending on the physiological characteristics of microorganisms, including cell structure, existence of biofilms, and growth state. Previous studies demonstrated that the incremental change of aw in bacterial cells during thermal treatments resulted in changes in their thermotolerance. In this study, a pathogen associated with low-moisture foods outbreaks, Salmonella Enteritidis PT30 (in planktonic and biofilm forms), and its validated surrogate, Enterococcus faecium, were lyophilized and their water sorption isotherms (WSI) at 20, 40, and 60 °C were determined by using a vapor sorption analyzer and simulated by the Guggenheim, Anderson and De Boer model (GAB). The published thermal death times at 80 °C (D80 °C-values) of these bacteria in low-moisture environments were related with their WSI-derived aw changes. The results showed that planktonic E. faecium and biofilms of Salmonella, exhibiting higher thermal resistance compared to the planktonic cultures of Salmonella, had a smaller increase in aw when thermally treated from 20 to 60 °C in sealed test cells. The computational modeling also showed that when temperature increased from 20 to 60 °C, with an increase in relative humidity from 10% to 60%, freeze-dried planktonic E. faecium and Salmonella cells would equilibrate to their surrounding environments in 0.15 s and 0.25 s, respectively, suggesting a rapid equilibration of bacterial cells to their microenvironment. However, control of bacteria with different cell structure and growth state would require further attentions on process design adjustment because of their different water sorption characteristics.

Dipping fresh-cut apples in citric acid before plasma-integrated low-pressure cooling improves Salmonella and polyphenol oxidase inactivation.

BACKGROUND: Ready-to-eat fruit and vegetable products have gained tremendous popularity in recent years. The main challenges associated with these minimally processed products are their short shelf life and high food safety concerns. In this study, our goal was to develop an integrated process to both reduce the Salmonella population by >5 log CFU g-1 ) and to reduce polyphenol oxidase activity, followed by quickly cooling the product. We compared the effect of a sequential treatment of dipping in citric acid (CA) followed by cold plasma (CP) treatment on the inactivation of Salmonella Typhimurium, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, browning, total phenolic content and the moisture loss of cut apples during the plasma-integrated low-pressure cooling (PiLPC) process. RESULTS: The greatest inactivation of Salmonella (5.68 log CFU g-1 ) and the highest PPO inactivation (78%) were observed after dipping cut apples in 5% CA, followed by 3 min of CP treatment. The color of cut apples remained relatively unchanged, with a fresh-like appearance during 7 days of storage at 4 °C after this combined treatment. Although the low-pressure cooling time was increased when samples were pre-dipped in CA, related to those undipped, the moisture loss was reduced by more than 50% during the PiLPC process. No significant reduction in phenolic content was observed during the PiLPC when the samples were pre-dipped in 5% CA. CONCLUSION: These results indicate the potential of this integrated process for the inactivation of endogenous food enzymes and bacterial pathogens in fresh-cut apples. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Antimicrobial activity and drying potential of high intensity blue light pulses (455 nm) emitted from LEDs.

Decontamination of low water activity (aw) foods, like pet foods is a challenging task. Treatment using light emitting diode (LED) is an emerging decontamination method, that can induce photodynamic inactivation in bacteria. The objective of this study was to understand the effect of selected product and process parameters on the antibacterial efficacy of treatment using light pulses of 455 nm wavelength on dry powdered Salmonella and pet foods equilibrated to 0.75 aw. The surface temperature increase, weight loss, and aw decrease in the samples were determined after LED treatments with different doses. S. Typhimurium on pet foods showed better sensitivity to 455 nm LED treatment than the powdered S. Typhimurium. For instance, 455 nm LED treatment with 785.7 J/cm2 dose produced a log reduction of 1.44 log (CFU/g) in powdered S. Typhimurium population compared to 3.22 log (CFU/g) on pet food. The LED treatment was less effective against 5-strain cocktail of Salmonella in low aw pet foods. The treated samples showed significant reduction in weight and aw showing the heating and drying potential of 455 nm LED treatment. Significant lipid oxidation was observed in the treated pet foods. Overall, the dose, treatment time, and sample type influenced the Salmonella inactivation efficacy of 455 nm LED treatment in low aw conditions.

Salmonella inactivation and rapid cooling of fresh cut apples by plasma integrated low-pressure cooling.

Fresh food products, including fruits, vegetables, raw meat, and poultry, have been associated with safety concerns and quality issues, owing to their susceptibility to rapid deterioration and microbial contamination. This research aimed to develop an integrated process to simultaneously cool and decontaminate high moisture food products. Cold plasma (CP), a novel decontamination technology, was integrated with vacuum cooling to develop a plasma integrated low-pressure cooling (PiLPC) process. To evaluate the rapid cooling and microbial inactivation efficacies of the PiLPC process, fresh cut Granny Smith apples andSalmonella entericaserovarTyphimurium ATCC 13311 were used as the model food and microorganism, respectively. The influence of process parameters including treatment time, pressure, and post-treatment storage, on the inactivation ofSalmonellaon fresh-cut apples was investigated.Inactivation ofSalmonellaincreased with treatment time, with a maximum reduction of 3.21 log CFU/g after 5 min of CP treatment at atmospheric pressure. Inactivationof Salmonellaafter CP treatment at 200 mbar was not significantly different from that at atmospheric pressure for the same treatment time. CP treatment of 3 min at 200 mbar followed by a post-treatment storage of 3 days at 4 °C reduced the totalSalmonellapopulation on cut apple slices by > 6 log CFU/g. The temperature of the cut apples was reduced from room temperature to 2 °Cin 3 to 9 min depending on the sample surface area to volume ratio, when the pressure was reducedto 7 mbar. However, this PiLPC process resulted in moisture loss in cut apples. The results of this study indicate the potential of the PiLPC process for rapid cooling and microbial inactivation of fresh food products in a single process.

Influence of drying conditions, food composition, and water activity on the thermal resistance of Salmonella enterica.

Salmonella contamination of low-water activity (aw) foods poses a serious concern worldwide. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of drying conditions, food composition, and water activity on the desiccation tolerance and thermal resistance of S. Enteritidis FUA1946, S. Senftenberg ATCC43845 and S. Typhimurium ATCC13311 in pet food, binder formulation, and skim milk powder. The samples were wet inoculated with the individual Salmonella strains and were equilibrated to aw 0.33 and 0.75, followed by an isothermal treatment at 70 °C. The thermal inactivation data was fitted to the Weibull model. Irrespective of the aw, food composition and physical structure of the selected foods, strain S. Enteritidis FUA1946 displayed the highest desiccation and thermal resistance, followed by S. Senftenberg ATCC43845 and S. Typhimurium ATCC13311. The food matrix and strain type significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the thermal resistance of microorganisms in foods along with aw change during thermal treatments. To further study the effect of food composition, an additional set of experiments using dry inoculation of the resistant Salmonella strain in the low-aw foods was designed. Significant (p < 0.05) matrix-dependent interaction on Salmonella reduction was observed. The water adsorption isotherms of selected low-aw foods were measured at 20 and 70 °C to relate the thermal inactivation kinetics with the change in the aw. The characterization of thermal resistance of the Salmonella serovars in low-aw products with different compositions and aw in this study may be used for the validation of thermal challenge studies.

Review of the beneficial and anti-nutritional qualities of phytic acid, and procedures for removing it from food products.

Phytic acid (PA) is the primary phosphorus reserve in cereals and legumes which serves the biosynthesis needs of growing tissues during germination. It is generally considered to be an anti-nutritional factor found in grains because it can bind to minerals, proteins, and starch, limiting their bioavailability. However, this same mineral binding property can also confer a number of health benefits such as reducing the risk of certain cancers, supporting heart health, and managing renal stones. In addition, the ability of PA to bind minerals allows it to be used in certain food quality applications such as stabilizing the green color of vegetables, preventing lipid peroxidation, and reducing enzymatic browning in fruits/vegetables. These beneficial properties create a potential for added-value applications in the utilization of PA in many new areas. Many possible processing techniques for the preparation of raw materials in the food industry can be used to reduce the concentration of PA in foods to mitigate its anti-nutritional effects. In turn, the recovered PA by-products could be available for novel uses. In this review, a general overview of the beneficial and anti-nutritional effects of PA will be discussed and then dephytinization methods will be explained.

Reduction of T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins by atmospheric cold plasma and its impact on quality changes and germination of wheat grains.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is susceptible to mycotoxin contamination, which can result in significant health risks and economic losses. This research examined the ability of air atmospheric cold plasma (air-ACP) treatment to reduce pure and spiked T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins' concentration on wheat grains. This study also evaluated the effect of ACP treatment using different gases on wheat grain germination parameters. The T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxin solutions applied on round cover-glass were placed on microscopy slides and wheat grains (0.5 g) were individually spiked with T-2 and HT-2 on their surfaces. Samples were then dried at room temperature (∼24 °C) and treated by air-ACP for 1 to 10 min. Ten minutes of air-ACP treatment significantly reduced pure T-2 and HT-2 concentrations by 63.63% and 51.5%, respectively. For mycotoxin spiked on wheat grains, 10 min air-ACP treatment significantly decreased T-2 and HT-2 concentrations up to 79.8% and 70.4%, respectively. No significant change in the measured quality and color parameters was observed in the ACP-treated samples. Wheat grain germination parameters were not significantly different, when treated with ACP using different gases. Air-ACP treatment and ACP treatment using 80% nitrogen + 20% oxygen improved the germination of wheat grains by 10% and 6%, respectively. This study demonstrated that ACP is an innovative technology with the potential to improve the safety of wheat grains by reducing T-2/HT-2 mycotoxins with an additional advantage of improving their germination. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) technology has a huge potential to degrade mycotoxins in food grains. This study evaluated the efficacy of ACP to reduce two major mycotoxins (T-2 and HT-2 toxins) in wheat grains. The results of this study will help to develop and scale-up the ACP technology for mycotoxin degradation in grains.

Factors influencing the antimicrobial efficacy of Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Atmospheric Cold Plasma (ACP) in food processing applications.

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is an emerging technology in the food industry with a huge antimicrobial potential to improve safety and extend the shelf life of food products. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is a popular approach for generating ACP. Thanks to the numerous advantages of DBD ACP, it is proving to be successful in a number of applications, including microbial decontamination of foods. The antimicrobial efficacy of DBD ACP is influenced by multiple factors. This review presents an overview of ACP sources, with an emphasis on DBD, and an analysis of their antimicrobial efficacy in foods in open atmosphere and in-package modes. Specifically, the influence of process, product, and microbiological factors influencing the antimicrobial efficacy of DBD ACP are critically reviewed. DBD ACP is a promising technology that can improve food safety with minimal impact on food quality under optimal conditions. Once the issues pertinent to scale-up of plasma sources are appropriately addressed, the DBD ACP technology will find wider adaptation in food industry.