EFFECTS OF LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASMA ON PLANT PRODUCTS

The aim of this research is to study the effect of low temperature (cold) argon plasma on inactivation of microorganisms and the potential use of plasma treatment of plant products with the purpose to increase storage time. Non-equilibrium plasma source based on plasma jets in a low-current spark discharge at atmospheric pressure has been developed as an experimental setup to generate low temperature (cold) argon plasma. Series of experiments have been conducted to select optimum parameters for inactivation of microorganisms. The results show a sterilizing ability of low-temperature plasma for different types of microorganisms. The reduction of the number of bacteria is observed for E. coli exposed within 60 seconds, and for B. subtilis, Aspergillus оryzae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae exposed within 300 sec. Products of plant origin processed with plasma demonstrate their integrity during storage without creating a specific climate (low temperature) up to 10 days for tuber and root crops and up to 2 days for leafy greens ensuring microbiological safety. These results allow us to conclude that the method of plant product processing with low-temperature plasma is effective for storage time increasing.