Effect of atmospheric cold plasma treatment modes on the quality of red shrimp (Solenocera crassicornis) during cold chain storage

Abstract

An increasingly popular non-thermal approach for food preservation is atmospheric cold plasma (ACP), which can efficiently inactivate various microorganisms. This study explored the impact of different ACP treatment modes on the preservation of red shrimp in cold chain storage. A novel treatment mode, ACP cyclical, was introduced as an alternative to ACP one-time treatment. The results indicated that the ACP cyclical treatment extended the ozone and shrimp exposure time to 35 min compared to one-time treatment, resulting in a notable enhancement in preservation effectiveness. While ACP treatment significantly reduced the total viable count (TVC) of red shrimp at day 0, it does not affect total volatile basic-nitrogen (TVB-N), pH value, or color. At day 8, the ACP cyclical group showed a 17.38% reduction in TVB-N, 36.90% decrease in TVC, and 32.39% decline in sulfur-producing bacteria compared to the ACP one-time treatment group. Electronic nose analysis indicated improved odor stability in both ACP treatment modes. Moreover, correlation and partial least squares discriminant analysis revealed that ACP cyclical treatment delayed shrimp’ color deterioration and TVB-N increase during prolonged storage. This study highlighted the potential of ACP cyclical treatment for enhancing red shrimp preservation in cold chain storage.