The Effect of Cold Plasma Pretreatment on Water-Suspended Herbs Measured in the Content of Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity, Volatile Compounds and Microbial Count of Final Extracts

Quality and antioxidant activity of dandelion root infusions as affected by cold plasma pretreatment

Ground and unground dandelion roots were subjected to dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (DBDCP) at 40 kV for 0 (control), 10, or 20 min. Then, infusions of the pretreated dandelion roots in water were prepared, and the changes in color, total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and sensory properties were investigated. The 20-min pretreatment increased the b* value, TPC, antioxidant activity, and sage odor of the ground dandelion root infusions compared with the control, whereas decreases in the TPC, antioxidant activity, and sage odor were noted in the 10-min pretreated infusions of the unground roots. DBDCP pretreatment did not affect the overall likeliness of infusions of ground and unground roots. In addition, the TPC, antioxidant activity, and overall likeliness of infusions of the ground dandelion roots were higher than those of the unground samples. In conclusion, it can be said that the DBDCP pretreatment can be utilized to improve the TPC and antioxidant activity of ground dandelion roots.

Optimization of Plasma Activated Water Extraction of Pleurotus ostreatus Polysaccharides on Its Physiochemical and Biological Activity Using Response Surface Methodology

This study focused on optimizing the extraction of P. ostreatus polysaccharides (POPs) using plasma-activated water (PAW). A single factor and response surface methodology were employed to optimize and evaluate the polysaccharide yield, physiochemical characteristics, and biological activities of POPs. The observed findings were compared to those obtained by the conventional hot water extraction method (100 °C, 3 h), as the control treatment. The optimal extraction conditions were obtained at 700 W PAW power, 58 s treatment time, 1:19 sample-to-water ratio, and 15 L/min gas flow rate. In these conditions, the PAW-treated samples experienced changes in surface morphology due to plasma etching, leading to a 288% increase in the polysaccharide yield (11.67%) compared to the control sample (3.01%). Furthermore, the PAW-treated sample exhibited superior performance in terms of biological activities, namely phenolic compounds (53.79 mg GAE/100 g), DPPH scavenging activity (72.77%), and OH scavenging activity (65.03%), which were 29%, 18%, and 38% higher than those of control sample, respectively. The results highlighted the importance of process optimization and provided new evidence for PAW as an alternative approach to enhance the extraction efficiency of POPs, a novel source of natural antioxidants which enables diverse applications in the food industry.

Advancements in Plasma Agriculture: A Review of Recent Studies

This review is devoted to a topic of high interest in recent times-the use of plasma technologies in agriculture. The increased attention to these studies is primarily due to the demand for the intensification of food production and, at the same time, the request to reduce the use of pesticides. We analyzed publications, focusing on research conducted in the last 3 years, to identify the main achievements of plasma agrotechnologies and key obstacles to their widespread implementation in practice. We considered the main types of plasma sources used in this area, their advantages and limitations, which determine the areas of application. We also considered the use of plasma-activated liquids and the efficiency of their production by various types of plasma sources.

Cold Plasma-Assisted Extraction of Phytochemicals: A Review

In recent years, there has been growing interest in bioactive plant compounds for their beneficial effects on health and for their potential in reducing the risk of developing certain diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. The extraction techniques conventionally used to obtain these phytocompounds, however, due to the use of toxic solvents and high temperatures, tend to be supplanted by innovative and unconventional techniques, in line with the demand for environmental and economic sustainability of new chemical processes. Among non-thermal technologies, cold plasma (CP), which has been successfully used for some years in the food industry as a treatment to improve food shelf life, seems to be one of the most promising solutions in green extraction processes. CP is characterized by its low environmental impact, low cost, and better extraction yield of phytochemicals, saving time, energy, and solvents compared with other classical extraction processes. In light of these considerations, this review aims to provide an overview of the potential and critical issues related to the use of CP in the extraction of phytochemicals, particularly polyphenols and essential oils. To review the current knowledge status and future insights of CP in this sector, a bibliometric study, providing quantitative information on the research activity based on the available published scientific literature, was carried out by the VOSviewer software (v. 1.6.18). Scientometric analysis has seen an increase in scientific studies over the past two years, underlining the growing interest of the scientific community in this natural substance extraction technique. The literature studies analyzed have shown that, in general, the use of CP was able to increase the yield of essential oil and polyphenols. Furthermore, the composition of the phytoextract obtained with CP would appear to be influenced by process parameters such as intensity (power and voltage), treatment time, and the working gas used. In general, the studies analyzed showed that the best yields in terms of total polyphenols and the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the phytoextracts were obtained using mild process conditions and nitrogen as the working gas. The use of CP as a non-conventional extraction technique is very recent, and further studies are needed to better understand the optimal process conditions to be adopted, and above all, in-depth studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms of plasma-plant matrix interaction to verify the possibility of any side reactions that could generate, in a highly oxidative environment, potentially hazardous substances, which would limit the exploitation of this technique at the industrial level.

Antioxidant Activity of Urtica dioica: An Important Property Contributing to Multiple Biological Activities

Urtica dioica (UD) is a multi-functional plant known to be used as both food and medicine from ancient times. The plant has the potential to be used as a fertilizer and for biological pest control. It is also used in textile and related industries for its quality fibers. In the recent past, the plant has received great attention for its numerous important biological activities and food applications. The antioxidant activity of UD is the crucial factor supporting its important biological activities, such as anticancer, antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. The antioxidant activity of UD is also found to be protective in different organs, including the brain, liver, lungs, kidney, ovary, and uterus, and may also be protective against diseases associated with these organs. Few clinical studies have endorsed the antioxidant potential of UD in patients. The current work is an attempt to comprehensively compile and discuss the antioxidant activity of UD from in vitro, in vivo and human studies. The insights of the current study would be helpful in getting a panoramic view of the antioxidant potential of UD, and provide direction for optimizing and developing it for therapeutic applications against important diseases and conditions in the near future.

Sage extracts obtained with cold plasma improves beef quality

The aim of the study was to verify the effect of sage extracts obtained using cold plasma on the quality of ground beef. Patties with a different content of sage extracts (0.05% and 0.075%) obtained either by conventional extraction (S0.05, S.0.075) or with cold plasma assistance (SP0.05, SP0.075) were packed under a modified atmosphere (80%O2) and stored in cold conditions for 8 days. Sage extracts addition had no impact on pH, weight loss, colour, content of each myoglobin form, texture, aroma and overall acceptability of raw meat measured on the last storage day (P < 0.05). However, lipid oxidation was inhibited the most in meat with the highest share of sage extract obtained using cold plasma (P < 0.05). This group was also characterized by the highest amount of n-3 fatty acids at the end of storage (P < 0.05). Moreover, the addition of sage at 0.075% prevented hexanal formation in samples. Thus, cold plasma extracts may be introduced in the meat industry.