Atmospheric cold plasma treatment of freeze-dried pet food products******

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In low water activity food products, including freeze-dried pet foods, Salmonella and other bacterial pathogens can survive for extended periods. These microorganisms exhibit significant resistance to antimicrobial treatments such as thermal treatments in low water activity conditions. Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment is a novel non-thermal method, which has the potential to reduce pathogenic microorganisms on food products. The objective of this project is to understand the potential of ACP technology to reduce Salmonella on freeze-dried pet food products. Further, this project will evaluate the effect of water activity on the reduction of Salmonella population on pet food pellets during ACP treatment. We will also conduct both open environment and in-package ACP treatments for freeze-dried pet foods. For this, equilibrated samples with selected water activity values will be packaged with air or modified atmospheric conditions with specific concentrations of N2, O2 and CO2 inside, followed by ACP treatment. The effect of post-treatment storage on Salmonella inactivation will also be determined. Overall, this project will help us to conduct initial studies on antimicrobial efficacy of ACP technology which is essential for its future scale-up. ****