Spices are popular worldwide for increasing appetite and adding flavor and color to food, but they also carry a high microbial load. Cold plasma is a non-thermal technology and a suitable alternative to the conventional thermal methods used in the food industry, which,
More
Spices are popular worldwide for increasing appetite and adding flavor and color to food, but they also carry a high microbial load. Cold plasma is a non-thermal technology and a suitable alternative to the conventional thermal methods used in the food industry, which, with its antimicrobial properties, increases the shelf life of food without negatively affecting its quality. The purpose of this research was to investigate some qualitative and microbial properties of red pepper by a cold plasma method. The results showed that the plasma voltage had a greater effect on improving and maintaining the total phenolic content of red pepper than the duration of irradiation, so the use of cold plasma treatment with medium voltage (16.66 kV) increased the total phenolic content of red pepper compared to the voltages lower and higher were superior. The acid value, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid, and anisidine index of the treatments were significantly higher than the control sample (p<0.05), and the control sample had the lowest oxidation indices. The total count of microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus, and E. coli in the treated samples was significantly less than the control sample (p<0.05). According to the obtained results, the cold plasma method is suggested for food processing because it can maintain the quality of food at an acceptable level.
Manuscript profile
