Table 1.
Effect of cold plasma treatment on surface microbiota of meat. Values with different letters (a–e) within the same column differ significantly (P < 0.05). TNM Total number of microorganisms, Y&M yeasts and molds, P psychrotrophic microorganisms
| Type of plasma | Exposure time (min) | Log reduction | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNM | Y&M | P | |||||
| Pork | Beef | Pork | Beef | Pork | Beef | ||
| Helium | 2 | 0.79 ± 0.10 c | 0.55 ± 0.09 b | 0.38 ± 0.11 b | 0.25 ± 0.04 b | 0.60 ± 0.10 b | 0.19 ± 0.02 a |
| 5 | 0.94 ± 0.05 d | 1.01 ± 0.03 c | 0.60 ± 0.19 b | 0.50 ± 0.06 c | 0.81 ± 0.16 b | 0.73 ± 0.21 b | |
| 10 | 1.14 ± 0.03 e | 2.09 ± 0.04 d | 1.90 ± 0.02 c | 0.98 ± 0.02 d | 1.60 ± 0.02 d | 1.48 ± 0.09 c | |
| Argon | 2 | 0 ± 0.01 a | 0.16 ± 0.08 a | 0 ± 0.01 a | 0.04 ± 0.01 a | 0.14 ± 0.02 a | 0.23 ± 0.19 a |
| 5 | 0.34 ± 0.05 b | 0.57 ± 0.06 b | 0.40 ± 0.9 b | 0.28 ± 0.09 b | 0.50 ± 0.11 b | 0.70 ± 0.30 b | |
| 10 | 0.77 ± 0.08 c | 0.56 ± 0.05 b | 0.41 ± 0.8 b | 0.50 ± 0.03 c | 1.20 ± 0.01 c | 1.32 ± 0.10 c | |