Plasma-Activated Water (PAW) Decontamination of Foodborne Bacteria in Shucked Oyster Meats Using a Compact Flow-Through Generator

This study explored the effectiveness of plasma-activated water (PAW), generated by a newly developed compact generator, for decontaminating foodborne bacteria in oyster meats. The generator effectively produced PAW with antibacterial activity when the water passed through the plasma reactor in a single cycle. The temperature of the PAW produced by the developed device did not exceed 40 °C, enabling its direct application to biological tissues immediately after production and discharge from the plasma reactor. The effects of flow rates and post-discharge times on key reactive species-including hydrogen peroxide, nitrite, and nitrate-were analyzed, along with pH and temperature. Freshly produced PAW can completely inhibit both <i>E. coli</i> and <i>S. aureus</i> in vitro, with a 5-log reduction within 5 min of treatment. Application to oyster meats led to an 86.6% and 87.9% inactivation of <i>V. cholerae</i> and <i>V. parahaemolyticus</i>, respectively. These research findings indicate that PAW generated using the developed compact flow-through generator holds promise as a food safety solution for households. The fact that complete foodborne pathogen elimination was not achieved emphasizes the need for further optimization.