Microbial decontamination of red pepper powder using pulsed light plasma

摘要

Pulsed light plasma (PLP) treatment, a simultaneous treatment with cold plasma (CP) and intense pulsed light (IPL), was studied for its effects on the inactivation of indigenous bacteria contaminating red pepper powder. Higher IPL voltage and frequency and PLP treatment time yielded greater bacterial inactivation, while moisture or oxygen addition to plasma-forming gas did not affect the inactivation efficacy. The efficacy increased with a decrease in the distance between the PLP reactor and IPL lamp and an increase in the powder water activity. PLP treatment that yielded the highest inactivation (2.9 log CFU/g Est.) increased the powder surface temperature from 20.6 to 29.9 degrees C. PLP treatment did not affect the color, capsaicin and ascorbic acid concentrations, and antioxidant activity, while altered the flavor sensory property and surface morphology. The results demonstrated the potential of applying PLP to non-thermally decontaminate the powder.