Decontamination Effects of Ozone Generated in an Atmospheric-pressure Air Plasma on Packaged Fruits

Atmospheric-pressure plasma has recently been intensively studied for agricultural product treatment because of its strong decontamination effect and its abundant active agents such as atomic oxygen, ozone, and ultra-violet radiation. However, detailed mechanistic studies of plasma and agricultural products have yet to be conducted. In this study, a dielectric barrier air-discharge plasma was used to treat fruit in packages, and its decontamination mechanism was studied through plasma characterization, microbiological analysis, and food-quality check. By heating the gas introduced for plasma generation and filling packages, we found that the plasma-treated gases enabled better storage conditions for fruits without significant quality degradation. In addition, the control of ozone concentration was revealed to be one of the main decontamination factors.