Effects of the plasma activated water on the quality and preservation of fresh-cut lettuce

CHAMORRO GARCÉS J.; DENOYA GABRIELA; SANTAMARIA BRENDA; FINA BRENDA; FERREYRA MATÍAS; CEJAS EZEQUIEL; RODRIGUEZ ANABEL; VAUDAGNA SERGIO; PREVOSTO LEANDRO

Foz de Iguazú

Simposio; XX Brazil MRS Meeting 2022; 2022

Plasma activated water (PAW) has rapidly emerged as a potential alternative to traditionalsanitizers applied in the fresh produce industry [1]. In the present study, the effect of theapplication of 1 and 5 min treatments of PAW as a washing agent on the quality andpreservation of fresh–cut lettuce during 7 days of refrigerated storage was assessed. PAWwas produced by using a liquid–cathode glow–type discharge in atmospheric pressure airand stored at 4 °C. PAW H2O2and NO3 concentrations were 72.85 and 225.65 mg/L,respectively, while pH and electrical conductivity were 2.83 and 1533 μS/cm, respectively.No measurable amounts of NO2 –were found. Twenty pieces of lettuce leaves were immersedfor 1 and 5 min in 1 L of PAW. Lettuce chromatic parameters in the CIE L*C*h° system andhardness with a texture analyzer were evaluated at 1, 3 and 7 days of storage at 4°C.Lightness (L*) significantly decreased with both PAW treatments, but significantly increasedwith storage time. The saturation (C*) of lettuce treated for 5 min with PAW wassignificantly lower than that corresponding to the 1 min-treatment. The angle of color (h°)was smoothly decreased from green to yellow with both the immersion and storage time ofthe lettuce. Lettuce hardness decreased significantly with storage time. Moreover, thelettuce samples treated for 5 min presented the highest reductions of the spoilagemicroorganisms. The last ones were promising results, since the quality of the product wasalmost not affected by the PAW treatments.