Atmospheric cold plasma treatment of fruit juices: A review

Conventional thermal processing technologies for pasteurization and sterilization of fruit juices have been used for ensuring microbiological safety and enzyme inactivation. However, they could cause quality changes that may lower consumer acceptability. Therefore, an increasing effort has been made in applying novel non-thermal processing technologies to preserve the sensory, nutritional, and functional properties of juices while providing safe products. Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is one of such novel non-thermal processing technologies. This review presents an overview of ACP processing applications for fruit juices. Specific areas of research are focused on microbial inactivation and the effect of ACP on nutritional and physicochemical properties of juices. Key findings and conclusions: While some general trends can be observed for all juices, the effect of ACP differs based on treatment parameters and juice properties such as, the type of fruit used to make the juice. Thus, an understanding of ACP applications for the treatment of different juices is important for optimization of processing parameters to produce high quality and safe juices.