Cold plasma for the preservation of aquatic food products: An overview

Website Link (Article by Rathod et. al. 2021)

ABSTRACT

Cold plasma (CP) is an upcoming technology implemented for the preservation of highly perishable foods, especially aquatic food products (AFPs). The high moisture content, high-quality protein with all essential amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids makes AFP more susceptible to microbial spoilage and oxidation of lipids and proteins.

Spoilage lowers the nutritive value and could generate toxic components, making it unsafe for consumption. In recent times, the rising demand for food products of aquatic origin with preserved quality and extended shelf-life has been recorded.

In addition, minimally or nonthermally processed and preserved foods are gaining great attention. CP technology has demonstrated an excellent ability to inactivate microorganisms without promoting their resistance and triggering some deteriorative enzymes, which are typical factors responsible for the spoilage of AFP.

Consequently, CP could be recommended as a minimal processing intervention for preserving the quality of AFP. This review focuses on different mechanisms of fish spoilage, that is, by microorganisms and oxidation, their inhibition via the application of CP, and the retention of quality and shelf-life extension of AFP.

CONCLUSION

The demand for safe, nutritional, and quality aquatic fish products is growing. The innovative nonthermal CP technology has been discussed for the preservation and safety of AFP.

CP has clearly demonstrated the inactivation of specific spoilage and pathogenic organisms associated mainly with spoilage of AFP, which are Enterobacteriaceae, P. fluorescens, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, B. cereus, hydrogen sulfite-producing bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, C., and so on.

The effect was attributed to the generation of reactive species by CP, which was dependent on fed gas composition, energy applied, and the treatment interval. Despite excellent microbial inactivation, CP was found to initiate oxidation in lipids and proteins, limiting its application.

However, the oxidation effect could be controlled by specifically optimized CP conditions and usage of natural compounds having synergistic impacts. The inclusion of natural compounds reduces the deterioration induced by CP-generated reactive species. Additionally, recent applications have shown a better understanding of CP in combination with other natural compounds as “hurdle technology” for AFP with desired outcomes.

Furthermore, CP has advantages and could be coupled with other nonthermal technologies by performing a prerequisite optimization for enhanced microbial destruction and retained nutritional value.