Combating foodborne pathogens: Efficacy of plasma-activated water with supplementary methods for Staphylococcus aureus eradication on chicken, and beef.

The research study suggested using plasma-activated water (PAW) along with auxiliary technologies, such as micro/nanobubbles (MNB), ultraviolet (UV) photolysis, and ultrasonication (US), to increase the effectiveness of sterilization. By using Factorial Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques, the characteristics and optimal production that contributed to disinfecting pathogens were assessed. Analysis revealed that Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection rate was most significantly influenced by factors including duration of MNB, UV, and the interaction term between MNB*UV. The optimal conditions for S. aureus reduction in chicken and beef of 8.41 and 8.20 log10 CFU/ml, respectively, which were found when PAW was combined with UV and US for 20 min of treatment. This study arrives to the conclusion that combining PAW with appropriate supplementary technologies increased efficiency and enhance disinfection effectiveness in chicken and beef which could be implemented for another alternative pathogen inactivation in food industry. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.