Decontamination of Food Packages from SARS-CoV-2 RNA with a Cold Plasma-Assisted System

Applied Sciences

Santina Romani¹  Rosalba Lanciotti¹  Urszula Tylewicz¹  Pietro Rocculi¹  Francesco Spataro¹  AnaCristina de Aguiar Saldanha Pinheiro¹  Giacomo Braschi¹  Silvia Tappi¹  Valentina Siracusa²  Vittorio Sambri³  Tommaso Gritti³  Federico Gómez Galindo⁴  Matteo Gherardi⁵  Vittorio Colombo⁵  Filippo Capelli⁵  Romolo Laurita⁵ 

[1] Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy;Department of Chemical Science, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy;Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy;Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, Naturvetarvägen 14, SE- 22362 Lund, Sweden;Department of Industrial Engineering (DIN), University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy;

关键词: Covid-19;    packaging materials;    viral RNA;    cold plasma;    food quality;    food shelf-life;   

DOI  :  10.3390/app11094177

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The accidental contamination of food and food packaging surfaces with SARS-CoV-2 is of increasing concern among scientists and consumers, particularly in relation to fresh foods that are consumed without further cooking. The use of chemical sanitizers is often not suitable for these kinds of commodities; therefore, a non-thermal sanitation technology could help to increase safety in relation to the food supply chain. Cold plasma has proven to be a promising strategy for virus inactivation. This research is aimed at evaluating the ability of a cold plasma sanitation system to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 RNA on packaged foods. Two different plastic materials were investigated and subjected to 5- and 10-min exposure to plasma after experimental inoculum of the RNA. In addition to viral degradation, possible changes in the performance of the materials were evaluated. Shelf-life of the foods, after exposure of the packages to plasma, was also investigated. Results showed that 10 min of exposure was sufficient to almost completely eliminate the viral RNA from package surfaces. The treatment did not produce any significant variation in packaging material performance or the shelf-life of the tested packaged products, indicating the potentiality of this treatment for the decontamination of packaged products.

【 授权许可】

Unknown