Antibacterial effects of non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma against Escherichia coli and Vibrio parahaemolyticus on the surface of wooden chopping board

Abstract

In this study, the effects of atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment (1.1 kV, 43 kHz, 5–30 min, N2: 1.5 lpm) were investigated for the inactivation of Escherichia coli and Vibrio parahaemolyticus on wooden chopping board (WCB) surfaces. A reduction of 0.4–1.6 and 0.4–1.3 log CFU/coupon was observed for E. coli and V. parahaemolyticus, respectively, on the WCB surface by DBD plasma treatment. The first-order kinetics model was used to generate linear survival curves and calculate D-values and R2 for the bacteria; D-values were 41.0 min and 59.8 min, and R2 values were 0.94 and 0.97 for E. coli and V. parahaemolyticus, respectively. Based on these findings, DBD plasma could potentially serve as a new antimicrobial method for wooden cutting boards.