Cold Plasma and Ultrasound Applications in Cleaning of Food Contact Surfaces

Abstract

Decontamination is vital for food processing. Decontamination techniques can be grouped into known techniques such as heat, steam, chemical solvents or gases, radiation and newly developed techniques. Although these methods may give good results in some cases, their effectiveness varies. The use of some of these methods is limited due to safety issues, sensitivity of the materials to be sterilized, limited efficiency and cost results. This leads to the need to remove unwanted side effects and to develop new technologies that will provide a high level of decontamination for heat sensitive materials. Cold plasma and ultrasound techniques offer a variety of potential applications in the food industry. The main applications of cold plasma can be grouped into food decontamination, improvement of food quality, toxin degradation and surface modification of packaging materials. Cold plasma has been proven to be effective for inactivation of various pathogens and degradation organisms without adverse effect. Removal of dirt and residues from the food contact surface and inactivation of microorganisms appear as a result of ultrasound-induced cavitation. It is responsible for the removal of organic foreign substances on the surfaces and is the basic mechanism of ultrasound. In addition to the cleaning effect, the ultrasound has the ability to inactivate certain microorganisms. This study aims to investigate current research and trends in decontamination of food contact surfaces to emphasize cold plasma and ultrasonic applications in the food industry.

Keywords: cold plasma, decontamination, food safety, food contact surfaces, sanitation, ultrasound