Cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of ready-to-eat meat: Inactivation of Listeria innocua and changes in product quality

The application of cold atmospheric pressure plasma for decontamination of a sliced ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product (bresaola) inoculated with Listeria innocua was investigated. Inoculated samples were treated at 15.5, 31, and 62 W for 2–60 s inside sealed linear-low-density-polyethylene bags containing 30% oxygen and 70% argon.

Treatments resulted in a reduction of L. innocua ranging from 0.8 ± 0.4 to 1.6 ± 0.5 log cfu/g with no significant effects of time and intensity while multiple treatments at 15.5 and 62 W of 20 s with a 10 min interval increased reduction of L. innocua with increasing number of treatments. Concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) increased with power, treatments and storage time and were significantly higher than those of control samples after 1 and 14 days of storage at 5 °C.

However, the levels were low (from 0.1 to 0.4 mg/kg) and beneath the sensory threshold level. Surface colour changes included loss of redness of ∼40% and 70% after 1 and 14 days of storage, respectively, regardless of plasma treatment. The results indicate that plasma may be applicable in surface decontamination of pre-packed RTE food products.

However, oxidation may constitute an issue in some products.