INP

Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology
Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 2
17489 Greifswald
GERMANY

https://www.inp-greifswald.de/en/
welcomeatinp-greifswald [punkt] de

The Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) is the largest non-university institute in the field of low temperature plasmas, their basics and technical applications in Europe. The institute carries out research and development from idea to prototype. The topics focus on the needs of the market. At present, plasmas for materials and energy as well as for environment and health are the focus of interest.

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Application of plasma-treated water for fresh-cut lettuce sanitation on industrial scale: evaluation of important safety aspects

Nonthermal plasma-treated water (PTW) has emerged as a promising area of research, particularly in the food sector, where it shows potential for fresh food sanitation via wash-water processes. When compared to commonly used strong oxidizing sanitizers, only compressed or ambient air and energy are required to generate plasma processed air (PPA), which produces PTW if combined with process or tap water. This excluded hazardous chemical storage and allows dosage and processing on demand. Ozonated water generation would be a comparable process; however, ozone cannot be cycled for reuse because of its instability. Despite the antimicrobial potential of PTW for sanitation, there are only a few publications on its toxicological aspects in the processing of fresh foods. However, this data is urgently needed to drive customer and industry acceptance as well as to address legal application requests. Our study aimed to assess the potential toxic effects of PTW used within an industrial washing process of ready-to-eat (RTE) lettuce (mix of endive, frisée and radicchio) for food hygienizsation including cytotoxicity (XTT-assay with cell lines Caco-2, V79-4, and L929), mutagenicity (Ames-test), and genotoxicity (comet and micronucleus assays). PTW was prepared within 3.5 h (200 L) from tap water using a microwave discharge until reaching a final pH value below 2. The fresh-cut lettuce was washed either with regular process water or with process water supplemented with PTW, both under standard industrial conditions. After washing, no toxicological effects were detected in lettuce washed with or without the addition of PTW in the process water when compared to unwashed fresh-cut lettuce. The results of the presented study demonstrated that PTW supplementation of process water could be used as a potential sanitation agent.

FieldValue
Group
Authors
Release Date
2026-06-08
Identifier
0265803e-2c41-4269-959e-0991a9276d6d
Permanent Identifier (DOI)
Permanent Identifier (URI)
Plasma Source Name
Plasma Source Application
Plasma Source Specification
Plasma Source Properties

Power: 3 kW
Frequency: 2.45 GHz
Waveform: sinusoidal

Plasma Medium Name
Plasma Medium Properties

gas flow rate: 83 slm

Plasma Target Name
Plasma Target Properties
200 L tap water at 4°C
Plasma Target Procedure
3.5 hours treatment time in column washer (at 60 L/h capacity), stored in a 300 L intermediate bulk container (IBC) at 10°C
Plasma Diagnostics Name
Plasma Diagnostics Properties

Cytotoxicity assay:
via XTT (sodium 3ʹ-[1-(phenylamino)-carbonyl]-3,4-tetrazolium]-bis (4 methoxy-6-nitro) benzene-sulfonic acid hydrate) cell proliferation assay
performed on: Caco-2, V79-4 and L929 cells
executed by: Tentamus Pharma & Med Deutschland GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany

Mutagenicity assay:
via AMES test
performed on: Salmonella thyphimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 and TA102 (according to DIN EN ISO 10993-3:2015-03)
executed by: Tentamus Pharma & Med Deutschland GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany

Genotoxicity assay:
via Micronucleus in vitro assay and Comet assay
Micronucleus in vitro assay:
performed on: V79-4 cells (according to DIN EN ISO 10993-3:2015-02; ISO/TR 10993-33:2015-03; and ODEC 487:2016-07)
executed by: Tentamus Pharma & Med Deutschland GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany

Comet assay:
performed on: Caco-2 cells (according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) harmonized tripartite guideline and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) test guideline no. 489 in vivo comet assay)
executed by: Tentamus Pharma & Med Deutschland GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany

Language
English
License
Public Access Level
Public
Contact Name
Schnabel, Uta
Contact Email

Data and Resources