Cold plasma bubbling: Impact on safety, physicochemical properties, and nutritional quality of sesame milk

Abstract

The decline in the consumption of animal milk raises the possibility of using different plant materials in producing vegan milk. Sesame is an oilseed, rich in nutrients, making it a suitable animal milk substitute. However, microbial stability, quality, and anti-nutritional factors must be considered while processing vegan milk. In this study, plasma bubbling (PB) was used for processing sesame milk (at various exposure times-10, 20 and 30 min). PB effectively reduced the microbial load (1.82 and 0.64 log reduction of coliforms and bacterial load), yet it increased oxidation of lipids and reduction in whiteness index. However, the reduction in phytates (1.48–0.58 mg/g), oxalates (39.13–19.96 μg/g) and lipoxygenase activity (18.3 from 100%) makes it an efficient alternative technique in the processing of sesame milk. Further, studying the structural modifications of protein and lipids would be beneficial in understanding plasma influence in the processing of sesame milk.