An overview of the potential of cold plasma for disinfecting industrial food-contact surfaces

Food safety is the primary goal for food and drink manufacturers. Cleaning and disinfection practices applied to the processing environment are vital to maintain this safety; yet, current approaches can incur costly downtime and the potential for microorganisms to grow and establish, if not effectively removed. For that reason, manufacturers are seeking nonthermal, online, and continuous disinfection processes to control the microbial levels within the processing environment. One such emerging technique, with great potential, is cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP). This review presents the latest advances and challenges associated with CAP-based technologies for the decontamination of surfaces and equipment found within the food-processing environment. It provides a detailed overview of the technology and a comprehensive analysis of the many CAP-based antimicrobial studies on food-contact surfaces and materials. As CAP is considered an emerging technique, many of the recent studies are still in the preliminary stages, with results obtained under widely different conditions. This lack of cohesive information and an inability to directly compare CAP systems has greatly impeded technological development. The review further explores the challenge of scaling CAP technology to meet industry needs, considering aspects such as regulatory constraints, environmental credentials, and cost of use. Finally, a discussion is presented on the future outlook for CAP technology in this area, identifying key challenges that must be addressed to promote industry uptake. Index1 INTRODUCTION2 CURRENT DECONTAMINATION APPROACHES2 CURRENT DECONTAMINATION APPROACHES2.1 Legislation and materials used2.2 Established cleaning and disinfection practices3 COLD PLASMA OVERVIEW3 COLD PLASMA OVERVIEW3.1 Definitions of the technology3.2 Common CAP sources4 MODE OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTION4.1 Key antimicrobial agents in CAP, cold atmospheric pressure plasma4.2 CAP effects on the cellular level4.3 Impact of microorganism species on CAP inactivation4.4 Other factors that affect microbial inactivation5 DECONTAMINATION OF FOOD-CONTACT SURFACES5.1 CAP decontamination of metallic surfaces5.2 CAP decontamination of polymeric surfaces5.3 CAP inactivation on food packaging and other materials5.4 Hurdle techniques and studies that utilize PAW6 INDUSTRY IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATIONS6.1 Development of CAP for industry-specific applications6.2 CAP treatment of packaging materials and preformed packages6.3 Surface modification to reduce microbial attachment6.4 CAP decontamination beyond microorganisms7 FUTURE PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES7.1 Advantages of CAP technology and industry implementation potential7.2 Disadvantages of CAP technology and remaining challenges7.3 Future directions and recommendations8 CONCLUSIONS SourcesCold plasma for the disinfection of industrial food-contact surfaces: An overview of current status and opportunitiesAndreas S Katsigiannis, Danny L Bayliss & James L Walsh Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2022 Jan 24. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12885. Online ahead of printPMID: 35075786 DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12885https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1541-4337.12885 The figure is Fig. 2 from the original paper, The four states of matter (a) and CAP operation modes (b) (reproduced with permission from Hojnik et al., 2017)