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In-package cold plasma technologies

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Abstract

Cold plasma is an ideal antimicrobial agent with a gamut of reactive chemical species,
that could be obtained from electrical discharges in atmospheric gases. The reactive
species are effective against a range of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, spores
and viruses, as well as pesticides and mycotoxins. Generation of cold plasma inside
sealed packages allows to localise and extend the action time of reactive species on
microorganisms, while preventing any post-process contamination. In this review, we
present an examination of the design aspects of the in-package plasma systems, the
packaging requirements, and discuss their efficacy with respect to microbiological and
chemical safety of foods.

Introduction

Food processing technologies have come a long way with developments evolving from
application/deprivation of heat, utilization of microorganisms, natural and chemical
preservatives, and application of electromagnetic fields for preservation. Of the several
food preservation processes that humankind has developed over the centuries, canning
holds a distinct place. This technology has stood the test of times, supported humanity
during times of peace as well as wars, and remains widely used in the food industry.
With the revolution brought by introduction of polymers in the twentieth century,
canning branched into retort pouch technology and gained even more popularity (Misra
et al., 2017). There are numerous reasons that were responsible for the success of canning
and retort pouch technology. However, the simplest and quite intuitive design principle
turns out to be the processing in a closed (hermetically sealed) environment that
prevented post-processing contamination, thereby ensuring a long shelf-life.

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Despite the popularity of thermal processing, it has its own widely known demerits,
mainly the considerable loss in food quality (Holdsworth and Simpson, 2008). To address
this issue, researchers spent the last four decades in exploring and developing
nonthermal technologies. Among the nonthermal technologies developed, by far, only
irradiation and high-pressure processing (HPP) have gained the most popularity and
success in industry and for HPP, also among consumers (Misra et al., 2017). It should be
noted that HPP, (including high hydrostatic pressure) also involves (pressure) treatment
inside sealed pouches, thus avoiding the likelihood of post-process contamination.

A notable recent development within the evolution of non-thermal food processing

technologies is the application of cold plasma for agri-food decontamination, and
enhancement of food properties (Misra et al., 2016a, Misra et al., 2016b). The cold plasma
processes are not only limited to food applications, but are also making an impact in the
agriculture (Puač et al., 2018), medical (von Woedtke et al., 2013), and environmental
sectors (Bobkova and Rybkin, 2015). To introduce the fundamentals of plasma technology
to novices to the field, we will provide a very brief discussion of the physics and
chemistry of the technology in this review. A salient feature of this technology is the
ability to establish a plasma inside a sealed package. This approach is referred to as the
“in-package plasma” technology and has a striking parallelism with that of canning and
HPP in that the plasma treatment is carried out inside a sealed package. However, that
does not render it into a sterilization technology for foods, as it is primarily a surface
treatment process. What it does point at is the possibility of raising the bar for surface
decontamination technologies for shelf-life extension of minimally processed, fresh,
and/or raw foods. Of course, this originates from the in-package nature of the technology.

There exist dedicated reviews on the basics of cold plasma (Misra et al., 2018), its
applications in decontamination of foods (Misra and Jo, 2017, Misra et al., 2011, Surowsky
et al., 2014), enzyme inactivation (Misra et al., 2016a, Misra et al., 2016b), and agricultural
applications (Puač et al., 2018), and a recent edited book on the topic (Misra et al., 2016a,
Misra et al., 2016b). However, there has been no dedicated reference on the topic of in-
package cold plasma technologies and their potential applications in the food industry.
The approach towards containment of the plasma inside a sealed package could be
different; in fact, a range of in-package configurations have evolved within the recent
years. Therefore, in this review we will provide a detailed account of the philosophy and
design of the various in-package configurations, with a focus on the studies conducted
within the past five years. The choice of applications that we will discuss is motivated by
our personal experience and their relevance to industry, specifically the fresh produce,

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meat, fish, poultry, and dairy sectors. We will also briefly discuss the potential
applications of in-package plasma technology in ensuring food safety and the status of
the efforts in scaling-up. This article is based on references obtained through a search
strategy built for google scholar (including patents) and web of science databases with
the keywords plasma, electrical discharge, in-package, sealed package, encapsulated
plasma, and food, followed by careful screening to retain the most relevant journal
papers. It is expected that this review will draw the attention of the food engineering
research community in exploring new in-package plasma designs, and forwarding the
idea of in-package food processing, in general.

Section snippets

Fundamentals of plasma technology

Plasma is an ensemble of several excited atomic, molecular, ionic, and radical species, co-
existing with numerous others, including electrons, positive and negative ions, free
radicals, gas atoms, molecules in the ground or excited state, quanta of electromagnetic
radiation (UV photons and visible light) (Misra et al., 2018). The ionization of a given gas
can be established via application of thermal energy (heating) or electromagnetic fields
(electric field or high energy light). For…

The concept and design of in-package plasma systems

The key idea of in-package plasma treatment is the localization of the gaseous
disinfectants inside a package wherein they contact with the food product to be
disinfected. For in-package plasma treatment, the product is first packaged in plastic (or
occasionally, glass) packaging and sealed. The gas inside the package could be ambient
air or a modified gas mixture. When this package or the gas within is exposed to a strong
electric field for a short period of time, a breakdown of the gas…

In-package decontamination

Literature reveals that in-package plasma systems have been employed for inactivation of
a wide class of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in model systems, fruits,
vegetables, dairy products, eggs, and meat or meat products (Misra et al., 2016a, Misra et

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al., 2016b). Table 1 provides a summary of the process parameters employed in these
studies along with their salient results, and forms the basis for our discussions in the
following sections. Considering that the major food-borne…

Chemical safety of foods

The use of pesticides in crops is subject to environmental, health, and safety laws and
regulations. A high demand of food may lead farmers to increase the use of pesticides,
especially in some products that are highly susceptible to plant diseases. Reactive plasma
species from cold plasma can degrade pesticide residues (herbicides, insecticides,
fungicides) into less toxic compounds (Misra, 2015). In the past, strawberries immersed
in a cocktail of azoxystrobin, cyprodinil, fludioxonil and…

Packaging aspects

The in-package plasma technology for foods relies on the use of polymeric package itself
as a dielectric layer and has been studied using several packaging materials such as LDPE
(low density polyethylene), HDPE (high density polyethylene), polystyrene (PS), Tygon
etc. (Keener et al., 2012). Herein, the packaging material is an integral part of the
treatment step, being exposed to the plasma discharge. The exposure of the surface of
packaging material to the reactive plasma species ensures that …

Scale-up of the technology

The promising reports of microbiological inactivation with quality retention in foods

using in-package cold plasma technology clearly points at the commercialization
potential of the technology. The volumetric in-package plasma processes can easily be
scaled-up for continuous large-scale treatment of food materials inside closed containers
placed between the electrodes DBD, on a moving conveyer belt. In fact, industrial or pilot
scale prototypes have also been designed and built for industries…

Conclusions

Microbial cross-contamination of foods can occur in the processes of harvesting,

handling, transportation and processing. In-package treatment with cold plasma is a
novel alternative for decontamination of foods and preventing against cross-

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contamination. The most distinctive designs for in-package plasma systems include the
use of a volumetric DBD, placement of a SDBD inside the package, and the less reported,
SDBD placed on the package. The in-package cold plasma systems have been widely…

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