Effect of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma on chicken eggs quality during refrigerated storage

Abstract

Salmonellosis outbreaks caused by Salmonella Enteritidis are usually linked to the consumption of eggs and egg products. To assure egg safety, High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma (HVACP) has demonstrated its efficacy in achieving higher than 105 CFU/egg reduction of this bacteria on the egg's surface. Although no quality changes were found immediately after treatment, there was a lack of knowledge on how the quality of HVACP-treated eggs could evolve during their shelf life, and a six-week quality study was performed in this work. Eggs were treated under two sets of conditions, 0.5 min of treatment within 24 h post treatment and 8.5 min of treatment and no post treatment time were the selected ones. No significant differences were found between untreated and treated eggs regarding albumen and yolk pH, Haugh unit, yolk color, vitelline membrane strength or shell strength. The changes detected during the six weeks of storage at 4 °C were attributed to the natural aging of the eggs and not to the effect of HVACP treatments. These results prove HVACP technology as an effective alternative to current techniques to assure both the safety and quality of eggs during their shelf life.