Microbial Decontamination of Mango and Melon Surface Using a Cold Atmospheric Plasma Treatment

Summary form only given. Inactivation of micro-organism on solid surface using cold plasma has been shown effective in many cases, however there has been few report, if any, of the application of this technique to treat the skin of fruits. In this report, various spoilage micro-organisms such as: E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. cerevisae and G. liquefaciens were deposited on the external surfaces of mango and melon at a concentration of 106 CFU/cm²; inactivation kinetics, using a gas mixture of He and 02 (0.5 % v/v), were obtained. Encouraging results have already been obtained: L. monocytogenes and G. liquefaciens were removed from melon and mango skin below detection limit (equal to at least 3 log) after 2.5 sec. actual exposure time; E. coli subjected to the same exposure showed 2.5 log reduction. S. cerevisae resulted in 2.5 log reduction after 5 sec of actual exposure time. The achieved level of inactivation and the treatment time required are of interested for food process technology, confirming the feasibility of plasma decontamination of fruit and vegetables using cold atmospheric plasmas.