INACTIVATION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES INOCULATED ONTO SLICED CHICKEN BREAST AND HAM BY A PEN-TYPE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE PLASMA WITH DIFFERENT INPUT GAS COMPOSITION

摘要

A pen-type atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) was developed and investigated the inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes inoculated on sliced chicken and ham. He, N_2, and their mixture with O_2 were introduced to produce plasma. The population of L. monocytogenes inoculated on sliced chicken and ham showed significant reduction from 1.37 to 4.73 and from 1.94 to 6.52 log cycles by different input gases. Among the gases, N_2+O_2 was the most effective. The pen-type APP reduced the number of aerobic bacteria to undetected level (<10~2 CFU/g) in both samples, except for the sliced ham with N_2 only, and the effect was maintained during 7 days. Results indicated that a pen-type APP is one of the potential APP systems to inactivate the contaminated L. monocytogenes in sliced chicken breast and ham and to prolong the shelf-life of the foods.