Surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma–treated pork cut parts: bactericidal efficacy and physiochemical characteristics

Maintaining agro-food product safety remains a significant challenge for satisfying local and global consumers in tropical countries. This issue has been growing due to new pathogen strains, low infectious doses, increased virulence, antibiotic resistance, cross-contamination or recontamination of foods, food-contact surfaces, and biocontamination of water within the food production chain. To respond to this situation, we studied the inactivation efficacy of surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) plasma against pathogens on the surface of various pork cut parts, including the loin, hip, belly, liver, and intestine. The SDBD plasma was operated at 0.30 W/cm(2) in ambient air, with a gap of 5.0 mm between the plasma generator and the sample surface. Up to 96% germicidal efficiency against surface pathogens were observed, showing after 1 min of SDBD plasma exposure. Visualization of reactive species deposition on the treated surface using KI–starch agar gel reagent indicated a non-uniform distribution of the SDBD-generated reactive species on the treated surface. Following the indirect plasma treatment by the SDBD reactor, the overall color of pork cut samples after plasma treatment was significantly different compared with before. However, the surface morphology and structural characterization of the treated pork cut samples were not significantly altered, and residual nitrites and nitrates were lower than the restriction level for safe consumption. The SDBD reactor should be developed further to produce a uniform distribution of reactive species on the meat surface for the improvement of the decontamination effect without undesirable effects on meat quality parameters.