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Quality assessment and anti-listerial efficacy of cold plasma treatment on fresh lettuce
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Introduction: Ensuring microbial safety of fresh leafy vegetables while preserving quality remains a major challenge for the food industry, driving interest in non-thermal decontamination technologies. This study evaluates the potential of cold plasma as an alternative to heat-based processing for the decontamination of lettuce. Lettuce serves as an ideal model for evaluating cold plasma treatments due to its common raw consumption (which increases the risk of contamination) and its short shelf life. Objectives: To evaluate cold plasma as a non-thermal decontamination method for fresh lettuce: Determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of cold plasma against L. innocua at different exposure times; Compare the microbial inactivation of cold plasma with a conventional hot water treatment (blanching @ 80 ⁰C – as a reference to illustrate the effects of extreme thermal effect and provide a benchmark for microbial inactivation); Assess the impact of cold plasma on key quality parameters: pH, color, chlorophyll content, and total phenolic content.