Decontamination of objects in a sealed container by means of atmospheric pressure plasmas

Publication: Research - peer-reviewJournal article – Annual report year: 2011

View graph of relations

The decontamination of objects (food) in a sealed container by means of atmospheric pressure plasmas is investigated. The target is Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium which causes listeriosis and can be found in plants and food. The non-pathogenic species, Listeria innocua, is used for the experiments. Glass slides were inoculated with L. innocua. The slides were placed inside a low density polyethylene (LDPE) bag. The bag was filled with a gas mixture of 97.5 Vol% Ar and 2.5 Vol% O2 and subsequently sealed. The bag was placed between the electrodes of a dielectric barrier discharge. The ambient atmosphere was air at atmospheric pressure. A plasma is generated inside the bag forming ozone from the oxygen. The maximum ozone concentration in the bag was found to be 140 ppm. A log 6 reduction of L. innocua is obtained after 15 min of exposure time. The temperature of the slides after treatment was below 30°C.
Original languageEnglish
JournalFood Control
Publication date2011
Volume22
Journal number8
Pages1296-1301
ISSN0956-7135
DOIs
StatePublished
CitationsWeb of Science® Times Cited: 6

Keywords

  • Plasma processing

ID: 5519818