Open AccessDecontamination of chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa L.) by cold plasma treatment and its effects on biochemical composition and storage quality of their corresponding juices
Author(s) -
Yeon-jae Park,
Pradeep Puligundla,
Chulkyoon Mok
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
food science and biotechnology/food science and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2092-6456
pISSN - 1226-7708
DOI - 10.1007/s10068-020-00867-8
Subject(s) - chemistry , food science , polyphenol , dpph , composition (language) , brix , anthocyanin , human decontamination , yeast , chromatography , antioxidant , biochemistry , linguistics , philosophy , sugar , physics , nuclear physics
To improve the microbiological quality of chokeberries, corona discharge plasma jet (CDPJ) was employed as a decontaminating agent. The mean levels of aerobic bacteria and yeast and molds contaminants in chokeberries were 4.78 and 4.87 log CFU/g, respectively; the viable counts were decreased by 2.09 and 1.83 log units following CDPJ treatment for 3 min, respectively. A first-order kinetic model was well-suited for explaining the inactivations. The concentration of total polyphenols of chokeberries was unaffected (up to 3 min treatment), whereas DPPH radical scavenging activity was significantly decreased by CDPJ treatment (2 min and more). CDPJ treatment (all tested times) of chokeberries led to a significant decrease of monomeric anthocyanin content of their corresponding juices, whereas soluble solids content (Brix) and pH were unaffected. After storage at 4 °C for 72 h, juices obtained from CDPJ-treated berries possessed relatively low levels of contaminants with no significant alterations in pH and soluble solids content when compared with controls. In conclusion, CDPJ treatment for 2 min was optimal to improve the microbiological quality of the berries without negatively affecting biochemical qualities of their corresponding juices.