Atmospheric double-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma technology is a promising tool in the food industry as an alternative to traditional food preservation methods. However, the effect of the reactive species generated during the treatment on the content of bioactive compounds in food is still little studied, and there are no data concerning potential deleterious effects of DBD-treated foods on human cells. Some functional properties of DBD-treated minimally processed Pink Lady apples were evaluated in comparison with untreated samples through different in vitro and ex vivo tests. Plasma treatment caused only a slight reduction of antioxidant content and antioxidant capacity (up to 10%), mainly limited to the amphiphilic fraction. Noteworthy, treated apple polyphenol extracts did not reduce cell viability and did not suppress the beneficial physiological cell response to oxidative stress in terms of reactive oxygen species production and phase II enzyme activation in human cultured colonocytes.
Keywords: antioxidant activity; antioxidants; cold plasma; fresh-cut apple; phase II enzymes.