Recommendations and guidelines for the description of cold atmospheric plasma devices in studies of their application in food processing

In this article, we propose an approach to provide a schematic and exhaustive description of a Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) process; particular focus is placed on defining and differentiating the operating conditions of a plasma discharge and the fundamental characteristics of the resulting processes. After identifying the main techniques to characterise a CAP treatment, two fundamental analyses to support their study are described in detail: electrical analysis, presenting different methods together with the equipment required to properly perform the measurements, and chemical analysis of the gas phase, discussing optical absorption spectroscopy (OAS) as a quantitative technique that poses relatively low challenges in terms of equipment availability and elaboration of acquired data. Finally, a practical example of a detailed description of a plasma device, its electrical characterization and its gas phase characterization by means of OAS will is provided. • Plasma treatments are performed with a variety of equipments and experimental conditions. • The standardization of experimental procedures adopted in studying plasma treatments is required. • Key information to be reported in plasma processing of food. • Electrical characterization is fundamental to compare and replicate plasma processes. • Optical absorption spectroscopy can be used to measure plasma reactive species.