Hygienic treatment with plasma-activated water is a promising method for extending the shelf life of fresh plant products such as cut lettuce and preventing spoilage. This innovative approach is now to be developed to practical maturity. The BMEL is providing a total of €1.1 million from its innovation funding programme for the SPLASH joint project. On behalf of the project sponsor BLE, Dr Christine Natt presented the funding notifications to the four project partners from science, industry and practice in Potsdam on 24 October.
Dr Christine Natt, Vice-President and Head of the Department of Promotion, Research, Innovation and Sustainability at the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), chose a very fitting setting for the official presentation of the grant notification: a symposium of the Society of German Food Technologists (GDL) on the topic of "Minimal Processing", which took place on 24 and 25 October at the ATB.
"By minimal processing, we mean product-friendly processing with the lowest possible treatment intensity and low temperatures," explains ATB scientist Dr.- Ing. Oliver Schlüter. "It is also about using materials and energy sustainably to produce high-quality, healthy and safe food and avoiding losses."
Treatment with non-thermal plasma is a particularly interesting minimal processing approach with regard to food safety, e.g. as a post-harvest treatment for fresh products such as cut lettuce. Plasma processes achieve a broad spectrum of effects due to the diversity of their mechanisms of action, including UV radiation and reactive oxygen species. They also make it more difficult for microorganisms to adapt to the process.
The SPLASH project focuses on the development of a resource-efficient washing process for fresh cut lettuce. Ready-to-cook cut lettuce in bags is popular because it is easy and convenient to prepare. However, it also carries the risk of contamination with human pathogens. The cell sap that escapes from the cut surfaces, together with the humidity in the plastic packaging, provides ideal conditions for the growth of microorganisms.
In the project, it is not the lettuce itself that is treated with plasma, but the water (plasma-processed water, PPW) used to wash the lettuce. The effect of this indirect plasma treatment on toxicological and sensory changes in the washed lettuce is the subject of investigations at the ATB.
"Plasma technology offers the possibility of applying the individual mechanisms of action very specifically. This allows us to adapt the process control to the results of the microbiological, toxicological and sensory testing of the products after plasma treatment," explains Dr Jörg Ehlbeck from the coordinating Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology in Greifswald. Another project goal is to design the process for the transportability and storability of plasma-treated cut lettuce.
The ATB has many years of expertise in the application of non-thermal plasmas. For 13 years, the team led by Dr Oliver Schlüter has been researching their effects and potential in numerous projects involving a wide variety of products, from perishable fruit and vegetables to spices and cereals.
The use of non-thermal plasma processes (temperatures below 40°C) at atmospheric pressure is used for the gentle hygienisation of fresh fruit and vegetables. This allows fresh and dry foods to be quickly and effectively cleaned of spoilage germs and pathogens on their surface. The plasma used, an ionised gas, flows around the surface of the product without heating it significantly.
In her speech, Dr Christine Natt emphasised the great importance of the BMEL's innovation promotion programme for the further development of the industry. Funding is provided for research, development and demonstration projects that contribute to making innovative technical and non-technical products marketable – from production to processing. Close cooperation between science and industry activates and bundles the great potential for ideas and promotes transfer, so that the innovations resulting from the projects become effective drivers for successful companies in the food industry.
The joint project "Development of an innovative washing process for fresh cut salad based on non-thermal plasma technology to increase product safety, quality and sustainability (SPLASH)" is being funded by the BMEL over three years with a total of
1.1 million euros over three years from the innovation promotion programme. The project is funded by the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE). The project coordinator is Dr Jörg Ehlbeck from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology ( , INP Greifswald). Partners are the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB Potsdam), Gartenfrisch Jung GmbH (Jagsthausen) and Kronen GmbH Nahrungsmitteltechnik (Kehl am Rhein).
Contact ATB:
Dr.-Ing. Oliver Schlüter
Tel.: 0331 5699-613, E-Mail: oschlueter@atb-potsdam.de
Dr. Antje Fröhling
Tel.: 0331 5699-625; E-Mail: afroehling@atb-potsdam.de
Helene Foltan - Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Tel.: 0331 5699-820, E-Mail: presse@atb-potsdam.de
Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e.V. (ATB)
Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam
