Effect of Plasma activated water (PAW) on physicochemical and functional properties of foods

Plasma activated water (PAW) is an advanced technology that has gained intensive attention being protecting the food products from physical, chemical, and biological contaminations. The generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) during process are the main reasons for preservation of food products. By applying PAW, the unprocessed and processed food products are kept safe from microbes during storage periods, however the quality is affected. The reaction between ROS/RNS with constituents of food materials leads to changes in texture, structure, physiochemical and nutritional properties. Although the various application of PAW in the food industry such as decontamination of microbes, thawing of food, curing of meat products, and combined effect with other technologies have been extensively evaluated, but a complete analysis of the effect of PAW on the quality of food is somehow lacking. In this context, the present review focuses on the impact of PAW application on chemical, nutritional, and textural changes in food. Further, the effect of processing parameters of PAW on the modification of food constituents and sensory attributes are described in detail. In addition, the physicochemical properties of PAW after being produced by several modes are also reviewed. Finally, this review also highlights several limitations of PAW treatment and suggests further research directions of the technology.