Insight into the microorganisms, quality, and protein structure of golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) treated with cold plasma at different voltages

Jie Xu; Qinxiu Sun; Xiuping Dong; Jialong Gao; Zefu Wang; Shucheng Liu

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100695

Insight into the microorganisms, quality, and protein structure of golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) treated with cold plasma at different voltages

Food Chem X. 2023 May 5:18:100695. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100695. eCollection 2023 Jun 30.

Authors

Jie Xu¹, Qinxiu Sun^{1

2

3}, Xiuping Dong³, Jialong Gao¹, Zefu Wang¹, Shucheng Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Processing and Safety, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Marine Food, Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing of Aquatic Products of Guangdong Higher Education Institution, Zhanjiang 524088, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Seafood Deep Processing, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China.
³ School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China.

Abstract

Cold plasma (CP) is a non-thermal novel technology for the processing of heat-sensitive food products, but there is concern regarding its impact on food quality. Voltage is one of the most direct factors affecting the bacteriostatic effect of CP. Golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) was treated with CP at different voltages (10, 20, and 30 kV). The total viable count decreased as the CP voltage increased, reaching a maximum reduction of 1.54 lg CFU/g on golden pompano treated at 30 kV. No effects on water-holding capacity, pH, total volatile base nitrogen, and T_2b relaxation time were observed, indicating that all CP treatments retained the freshness and bound water of the samples. However, as the CP voltage increased, peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances of golden pompano gradually increased, the protein tertiary structure unfolded, and α-helices converted to β-sheets, indicating inevitable lipid and protein oxidation caused by excessive CP voltage. Therefore, a suitable voltage of CP should be selected to inhibits the growth of microorganisms, which avoids deterioration of sea-foods quality.

Keywords: Cold plasma; Golden pompano; Microorganism; Muscle quality; Protein structure.