Evaluation of Nonthermal Plasma Treatment by Measurement of Stored Citrus Properties

Decay of fruit is one of the greatest issues in fruit storage. Purpose: In this study, citrus sterilization was performed to evaluate a dry sterilization method using an atmospheric-pressure nonthermal plasma treatment based on a dielectric-barrier discharge technique. Methods: Citrus samples were stored under four different environmental conditions as follows: group A had cold storage with plasma treatment with a temperature of $6.2{\pm}1.0^{\circ}C$ and relative humidity (RH) of $93.4{\pm}8.2%$, group B had ambient-temperature storage with $22.9{\pm}2.3^{\circ}C$ and $82.1{\pm}4.5%$ RH, group C ambient-temperature storage with plasma treatment with $25.3{\pm}2.2^{\circ}C$ and $90.0{\pm}2.8%$ RH, and group D had cold storage with $5.7{\pm}1.0^{\circ}C$ and $93.4{\pm}6.5%$ RH. Results: As a result of citrus surface sterilization by plasma treatment, treatment groups A and C together showed an average of 16.1 CFU/mL of mold colonies, while control groups B and D showed an average of $2.2{\times}10^2CFU/mL$ or approximately 13 times greater than the treatment groups. Regarding the mean concentration of aerobic bacteria colonies, the treatment groups (A and C) and control groups (B and D) showed an average of 7.1 CFU/mL and $1.9{\times}10^3CFU/mL$, respectively. This is approximately a 270-fold difference in the concentration of pathogen colonies between treatment and control groups. Conclusions: The results showed the potential of nonthermal plasma treatment for citrus storage in enhancing storage duration and quality preservation.