The Effect of Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Discharge Cold Plasma Treatment on the Nutritional and Physicochemical Characteristics of Various Legumes

Yingmei Wu; Xuewei Feng; Yingying Zhu; Shiyu Li; Yichen Hu; Yang Yao; Nong Zhou

doi:10.3390/foods12173260

The Effect of Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Discharge Cold Plasma Treatment on the Nutritional and Physicochemical Characteristics of Various Legumes

Foods. 2023 Aug 30;12(17):3260. doi: 10.3390/foods12173260.

Authors

Yingmei Wu¹, Xuewei Feng², Yingying Zhu², Shiyu Li³, Yichen Hu⁴, Yang Yao³, Nong Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Chongqing Engineering Laboratory of Green Planting and Deep Processing of Famous-Region Drug in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, College of Biology and Food Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120, China.
² Henan Key Laboratory of Cold Chain Food Quality and Safety Control, College of Food and Bioengineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
³ Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
⁴ Sichuan Engineering & Technology Research Center of Coarse Cereal Industrialization, Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, China.

Abstract

High activity of lipoxygenase (LOX) has been identified as a primary cause of oxidative rancidity in legumes. In this study, the application of dielectric barrier discharge atmospheric cold plasma (DBD-ACP) (5 W, 10 min) resulted in an obvious decrease in LOX activity in mung bean (MB), kidney bean (KB), and adzuki bean (AB) flours by 36.96%, 32.49%, and 28.57%, respectively. Moreover, DBD-ACP induced significant increases (p < 0.05) in content of soluble dietary fiber, saturated fatty acids, and methionine. The starch digestibility of legumes was changed, evidenced by increased (p < 0.05) slowly digestible starch and rapidly digestible starch, while resistant starch decreased. Furthermore, DBD-ACP treatment significantly affected (p < 0.05) the hydration and thermal characteristics of legume flours, evidenced by the increased water absorption index (WAI) and gelatinization temperature, and the decreased swelling power (SP) and gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH). Microscopic observations confirmed that DBD-ACP treatment caused particle aggregation.

Keywords: DBD-ACP; digestion properties; legumes; lipoxygenase; physicochemical structure.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Special National Key Research and Development Plan (2021YFD1600100); the Key Laboratory of Grain Crop Genetic Resources Evaluation and Utilization, China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-08-G21) (Food Legumes); the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Sichuan Engineering and Technology Research Center of Coarse Cereal Industrialization, Chengdu University (No.2023CC014); the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (01-ICS-02).