Atmospheric Cold Plasma to Maintain Sea Bass Quality: An Opportunity for International Fish Trade

Whole chilled sea bass is an essential product for the European food market, and Türkiye is the foremost supplier. The importance of sea bass in the world food trade reveals the significance of food safety risks that may arise during or after harvest. This study aimed to examine the impact of atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) on delaying the spoilage of sea bass. The ACP is generated by an original device that produces a dielectric barrier discharge plasma using an alternating current (AC) power supply, applying a 30 kV high voltage with a sinusoidal frequency of 20 kHz. Whole sea bass samples were treated for 1 min (ACP1) or 7 min (ACP7), and then stored at 2 ± 1 °C. Sensory scores of plasma-treated sea bass were higher throughout the storage period. Both treatments decreased the initial bacterial load and delayed bacterial growth (p ≤ 0.05) during storage. The mesophilic aerobic bacteria count of control samples exceeded 6 log CFU/g on the second day of storage. However, ACP1 and ACP7 did not reach this value until the third and fourth days. The control samples had higher TMA-N and TBARS (p ≤ 0.05) than plasma-treated groups. The treatment did not significantly change the texture. Although ΔE was higher in ACP samples, a discoloration that could affect acceptability was not reported during the sensory test. Cold plasma can improve the overall market value by maintaining quality, benefiting the global fish trade. It has been shown that cold plasma has promising potential in the fresh fish industry.