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Effect of Non-Thermal Plasma-Activated Water on Fruit Decay and Quality in Postharvest Chinese Bayberries

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Abstract

Recently, non-thermal plasma-activated water (PAW) became a relatively new concept developed in the food industry. The effects of PAW on fruit decay, microbial loads, and quality of postharvest Chinese bayberry were investigated. Chinese bayberries were treated by PAW for 0.5, 2, or 5 min and then stored at 3 °C for 8 days. Experimental results show that all PAW treatments could reduce fruit decay by around 50 % compared to control at the end of storage. There was no dose-effect relationship between PAW treatment time and fruit decay. Meanwhile, a 0.5-min PAW treatment could remarkably decrease microbial population on Chinese bayberries during storage, and the maximum reductions reached around 1.1 log CFU/g both for bacteria and fungi at the end day of storage. Scanning electron microscopy results reveal that PAW could significantly change the morphology of microbial cells on Chinese bayberries. Moreover, physicochemical properties analysis of PAW demonstrates that the microbial inactivation of PAW is mainly attributed to the combined action of high oxidation reduction potential and low pH. Additionally, PAW-treated fruits exhibited markedly higher firmness, color index of red grapes, and total soluble solids than the control did at the eighth day. These results indicate that PAW might be a promising strategy to control fruit decay and maintain quality of Chinese bayberry during postharvest storage.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Peking University Biomed-X Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Ruonan Ma, Shuang Yu, Ying Tian, Kaile Wang, Jue Zhang & Jing Fang

  2. College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Jue Zhang & Jing Fang

  3. China Laboratory of Fruit Quality Biology, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, The State Agriculture Ministry Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Chongde Sun, Xian Li & Kunsong Chen

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  1. Ruonan Ma
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  2. Shuang Yu
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  7. Jue Zhang
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Correspondence to Jue Zhang.

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Ma, R., Yu, S., Tian, Y. et al. Effect of Non-Thermal Plasma-Activated Water on Fruit Decay and Quality in Postharvest Chinese Bayberries. Food Bioprocess Technol 9, 1825–1834 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-016-1761-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-016-1761-7

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