Abstract

This article evaluates the effects of in-package atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (ADCP) treatment on microbial inactivation, nitrate and nitrite contents, oral toxicity, and storage quality of protein-coated boiled chicken breast cubes (CBCs). ADCP treatment at 24 kV for 3 min inactivated natural mesophilic aerobic bacteria, Salmonella, and Tulane virus in CBCs by 0.7 ± 0.2, 1.4 ± 0.1 log CFU/cube, and 1.1 ± 0.2 log PFU/cube, respectively. ADCP treatment did not affect the nitrite content of CBCs (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the hematological and blood biochemical parameters from toxicity tests indicated the toxicological safety of ADCP-treated CBCs. Microbial counts of natural bacteria and Salmonella in ADCP-treated CBCs were lower than the ADCP-untreated CBCs by 0.7–0.9 and 1.4–1.7 log CFU/cube, respectively, throughout post-treatment storage at 4 °C for 21 d. ADCP treatment did not alter the pH, color, total volatile basic nitrogen, lipid oxidation, and tenderness of CBCs during storage at 4 and 24 °C, and did not change the sensory properties of CBCs following a 3 d storage period at 4 °C (p > 0.05). Thus, ADCP treatment has the potential to be applied as a method to increase the microbiological safety of packaged ready-to-eat chicken products, leading to overall toxicological safety.

Highlights

  • Reports of food poisoning caused by ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products have increased with the increasing demand for RTE meat products [1,2]

  • Increased efficacy of microbial inactivation may be associated with an increase in antimicrobial substances in the packages subjected to atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (ADCP) treatment

  • Results of the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay for lipid oxidation in ADCP-untreated and ADCP-treated chicken breast cubes (CBCs) stored at 4 and 24 ◦ C are presented (Table 6)

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Summary

Introduction

Reports of food poisoning caused by ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products have increased with the increasing demand for RTE meat products [1,2]. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 290 cases of food poisoning due to ingesting chicken meat products were reported in 2019—of which, 105 cases and two deaths were caused by Salmonella poisoning. Chicken meat products were associated with 24 cases of Norovirus food poisoning during the period of 2013–2017 [3].

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