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Delayed enzymatic browning in fresh produce by means of novel plasma treatment
Author
Yow, Ivan Ying Ming
Supervisor
Xu, Shuyan
Abstract
The current global food security issue requires strong research development on food production. Scientists of various fields are stepping up on their attempt to resolve this dilemma faced all around the world. There still lies a difficult problem of preventing food spoilage which affects shelf life and quality of staple foods that constitutes the main diet for most Asian countries. Developed countries have high demand for food yet also contributes to majority of food wastage. Therefore in recent times, innovative research is carried out to utilise plasma for the extension of shelf life of foods either by treating the packaging material or inactivating enzymes within foods using high pressure plasma discharge.
In this project, an external atmospheric plasma discharge system is developed to induce inactivation of enzyme and generate radical gases to interact with the surfaces of the foods. The novel plasma discharge in an open condition yields an optimal treatment duration at 120 s to obtain delayed browning, which is associated to food spoilage. In an enclosed condition, concentration of radical gases pushes the optimal treatment duration to 60 s which makes the plasma discharge more efficient in delaying the browning of the foods. Short and long durations of treatment do not delay browning but instead induce rapid browning. Regardless of plasma treatment duration, the nutrients in the foods will not be affected. However, there may be few chemical modifications to either the vibrational bonds or omission of certain chemicals in the foods that were reported with the same FTIR technique employed. The novel external atmospheric plasma discharge device proposed is potentially the solution to the food security issues. The novel plasma treatment is able to carry out large scale treatment of foods and effectively reduce the browning effect with generation of radical gases.
In this project, an external atmospheric plasma discharge system is developed to induce inactivation of enzyme and generate radical gases to interact with the surfaces of the foods. The novel plasma discharge in an open condition yields an optimal treatment duration at 120 s to obtain delayed browning, which is associated to food spoilage. In an enclosed condition, concentration of radical gases pushes the optimal treatment duration to 60 s which makes the plasma discharge more efficient in delaying the browning of the foods. Short and long durations of treatment do not delay browning but instead induce rapid browning. Regardless of plasma treatment duration, the nutrients in the foods will not be affected. However, there may be few chemical modifications to either the vibrational bonds or omission of certain chemicals in the foods that were reported with the same FTIR technique employed. The novel external atmospheric plasma discharge device proposed is potentially the solution to the food security issues. The novel plasma treatment is able to carry out large scale treatment of foods and effectively reduce the browning effect with generation of radical gases.
Date Issued
2015
Call Number
TP372.55.E59 Yow
Date Submitted
2015