ABSTRACT
Preserving food against food-borne pathogens/spoilage microorganisms is of primary concern for food industries and related agencies across the globe. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is an emerging technology for food processing and preservation and has the potential to battle decontamination of water, food packaging, and disinfecting food surfaces and related equipment’s by disrupting the microbial contaminations and spores present on the surface of liquid/solid foods. It is often considered as the fourth state after liquid, solid, and gas. For preserving the organoleptic qualities and improvising the food production sustainability, NTP is considered as an eco-friendly green novel technology with variations, such as pulsed electric fields (PEF), dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs), corona plasma discharges, atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) jet, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP); and high voltage arc discharge followed by cold plasma. This novel technology is related to: lower thermal loads, no formation of toxic by-products, and no follow-up treatment requirements, which are the major elements for extension of the storage period of freshly processed foods. This chapter highlights on the application of various NTP technologies for microbial inactivation, food preservation, and related future perspectives.
