Exploration of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma as a practical tool for reducing food spoilage

探索高压常压冷等离子体作为减少食品腐败的实用工具

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05618
• 负责人: Keener, Kevin
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=740684
• 关键词: Exploration; voltage; atmospheric; cold; plasma

This research program aims to build on previous work establishing the potential for a dielectric barrier discharge high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) to deliver significant improvement in food safety and extension of food shelf-life with much less energy and water requirements than existing treatments and washes leading to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly manufacturing process. In the next five-year funding period, we propose to engage in the three parallel research tracks with the goal of expanding the scientific understanding of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) and demonstrate its potential application as a practical intervention technology for improving food safety and quality. Track 1 will be an in-depth mechanistic study of the HVACP utilizing air as the fill gas at voltages above 50 kV on the gas plasma generation characteristics and the resulting reactive gas species (RGS) generation and the stability of these RGS during storage to potentially improve safety and extend shelf-life fresh foods. Track 2 will be an examination of RGS generation chemistry for modified gas blends (i.e., CO2, N2, O2, H2, Ne) under different HVACP voltages and treatment times. Previous work has demonstrated that changing gas composition along with voltage changes RGS which can achieve shelf-life extension with no quality change on sensitive foods such as leafy greens. Track 3 will be optimization of HVACP treatment to extend the shelf-life of fresh produce, such as tomatoes, and provide an evaluation of quality, safety, and toxicology of treated food. HVACP can be generated using only air and a small amount of electricity (100 W or less). Using air as the fill gas will generate approximately 5,000 ppm of reactive nitrogen and reactive oxygen species at 80 kV. For many fresh produce applications HVACP treatment with air is a low cost option and is beneficial for extending shelf-life and improving safety. However some products, such as leafy greens, can be impacted by the RGS generated in air and therefore utilization of HVACP treatment using gas blends is desirable to create more beneficial RGS profiles. By changing HVACP gas composition the number and type of RGS can be increased to over 30,000 ppm and create unique gas chemistries (`signatures'). The hypothesis is that these tailored HVACP gas chemistries can deliver non-thermal RGS treatments that can selectively target and destroy bacteria, yeast, molds, mycotoxins, chemical contaminants, enzymes, or viruses without damaging the fresh produce or producing toxic compounds. The successful completion of these three research tracks will achieve the overall goal of expanding scientific understanding of HVACP, and demonstration of its potential application as a practical intervention technology for improving food safety and quality will potentially lead to broader industry adoption and a revolutionary change to preservation methods of fresh fruit and vegetables.

该研究计划旨在以先前的工作为基础，确定介质阻挡放电高压大气冷等离子体 (HVACP) 的潜力，以比现有处理方法和方法少得多的能源和水需求，显着改善食品安全并延长食品保质期。水洗可实现更可持续、更环保的制造过程。在接下来的五年资助期内，我们建议开展三个平行研究方向，目标是扩大对高压大气冷等离子体（HVACP）的科学认识，并展示其作为改善食品安全的实际干预技术的潜在应用和质量。第 1 轨道将深入研究 HVACP 在 50 kV 以上电压下利用空气作为填充气体的气体等离子体生成特性和由此产生的反应性气体物质 (RGS) 的生成以及这些 RGS 在存储期间的稳定性，以潜在地提高新鲜食品的安全性并延长保质期。第 2 轨道将检查不同 HVACP 电压和处理时间下改良气体混合物（即 CO2、N2、O2、H2、Ne）的 RGS 生成化学。先前的研究表明，改变气体成分以及改变 RGS 电压可以延长绿叶蔬菜等敏感食品的保质期，而不会改变质量。第 3 轨道将优化 HVACP 处理，以延长西红柿等新鲜农产品的保质期，并提供处理食品的质量、安全性和毒理学评估。 HVACP 仅使用空气和少量电力（100 W 或更少）即可产生。使用空气作为填充气体将在 80 kV 下产生约 5,000 ppm 的活性氮和活性氧。对于许多新鲜农产品应用来说，空气 HVACP 处理是一种低成本选择，有利于延长保质期和提高安全性。然而，一些产品（例如绿叶蔬菜）可能会受到空气中产生的 RGS 的影响，因此需要利用混合气体进行 HVACP 处理，以创建更有益的 RGS 曲线。通过改变 HVACP 气体成分，RGS 的数量和类型可以增加到 30,000 ppm 以上，并产生独特的气体化学成分（“特征”）。假设这些定制的 HVACP 气体化学物质可以提供非热 RGS 处理，可以选择性地针对和消灭细菌、酵母、霉菌、霉菌毒素、化学污染物、酶或病毒，而不会损坏新鲜农产品或产生有毒化合物。 这三个研究方向的成功完成将实现扩大对 HVACP 的科学理解的总体目标，并展示其作为改善食品安全和质量的实际干预技术的潜在应用，将有可能导致更广泛的行业采用和保存的革命性变化新鲜水果和蔬菜的方法。