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.

该研究计划旨在建立在以前的工作基础上，建立了介质阻挡放电高压大气压冷等离子体（HVACP）的潜力，以显著改善食品安全和延长食品保质期，比现有的处理和洗涤更少的能源和水需求，从而实现更可持续和环保的制造工艺。在未来五年的资助期内，我们建议进行三个平行的研究方向，目的是扩大对高压大气压冷等离子体（HVACP）的科学认识，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。轨道1将是一个深入的机制研究的HVACP利用空气作为填充气体在电压高于50千伏的气体等离子体生成特性和由此产生的反应性气体物种（RGS）的生成和稳定性，这些RGS在储存期间，以潜在地提高安全性和延长货架寿命的新鲜食品。轨道2将是对改性气体混合物的RGS生成化学的检查（即，CO2、N2、O2、H2、Ne）。先前的工作已经证明，改变气体成分沿着电压改变RGS，这可以实现保质期延长，而对敏感食品如绿叶蔬菜没有质量变化。轨道3将是HVACP处理的优化，以延长新鲜农产品（如西红柿）的保质期，并提供处理食品的质量，安全性和毒理学评估。HVACP可以仅使用空气和少量电力（100 W或更少）产生。使用空气作为填充气体将在80 kV下产生约5，000 ppm的活性氮和活性氧物质。对于许多新鲜农产品应用，用空气进行HVACP处理是一种低成本的选择，有利于延长保质期和提高安全性。然而，一些产品，如绿叶蔬菜，可能会受到空气中产生的RGS的影响，因此使用气体混合物的HVACP处理的利用是理想的，以产生更有益的RGS分布。通过改变HVACP气体成分，RGS的数量和类型可以增加到超过30，000 ppm，并产生独特的气体化学特性（“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，可以选择性地靶向和破坏细菌，酵母，霉菌，真菌毒素，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。 这三个研究轨道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，这将可能导致更广泛的行业采用和新鲜水果和蔬菜保存方法的革命性变化。