Cold plasma: a potential new method to manage postharvest diseases caused by fungal plant pathogens

Abstract

Development of alternative, chemical‐free approaches for control of postharvest fungi on a commercial scale has become a challenge for plant pathologists in recent years. Although there are several established techniques such as heat that are used as postharvest treatments, they often have disadvantages, including alteration of food quality due to physiological responses to the treatment, or environmental pollution. A promising new postharvest treatment is cold plasma, which is a gas‐derived mix of atoms, excited molecules and charged particles. Cold plasma has no known adverse effects on fresh produce or the environment. It is an established technology in the medical field and has been demonstrated to successfully control bacterial pathogens that cause food safety issues. This review focuses on the potential of cold plasma technology for postharvest disease control, especially those caused by fungi. An overview of plasma generation systems is provided, and in vivo and in vitro research is reviewed to consider benefits, limitations and research gaps in the context of cold plasma as a potential method for controlling postharvest fungal pathogens. Finally, recommendations are provided for the application of this technology in commercial facilities.

Cold plasma as a novel treatment to reduce the in vitro growth and germination of Colletotrichum species

“…Indeed, the reduction in germination following longer exposure to CP indicated that the inhibition was permanent. Other studies have reported similar observations, with longer exposure times increasing the efficacy of treatment (discussed in Siddique et al, 2018a). More importantly, for growth rates it was found that a similar result could be achieved with the same treatment duration but from a greater distance, by conducting the treatment in a sealed environment.…”

“…Cold plasma (CP) demonstrates strong potential for the control of fungi that cause postharvest diseases in fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains and may be a possible replacement for fungicides (Siddique et al , ). CP is produced by applying an electrical charge to a gas, which ionizes the gas to produce a mixture of excited molecules, charged particles, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and some UV light and ozone.…”

Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma: a suitable measure against fungal plant pathogens

“…Therefore, SEM analysis demonstrated modifications of the external shape of conidia, which could be attributed to the decomposition of organic components by etching and photo-desorption associated with chemical bond breakage, and consequent formation of volatile compounds 65 . www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Until now, few studies have investigated LTP to control postharvest fungal diseases 5 . Indirect plasma treatments have been successfully applied to inactivate Aspergillus ochraceus, Penicillium expansum and P. digitatum 86,87 and other fungi and yeast contaminating fresh produce like fruits and vegetables 88 .…”

“…Innovative technologies, based on sustainability, human safety, and long-term eco-safety, has been recently promoted and investigated. Among those, the atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma (LTP) represents a novel promising tool 5 . LTPs can be produced with different discharge configurations, such as corona, micro-hollow cathode, gliding arc, atmospheric uniform glow, dielectric barrier discharges, plasma jet and needle [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] .…”

Cold plasma treatment to release dormancy and improve growth in grape buds: a promising alternative to natural chilling and rest breaking chemicals

“…(2020) 10:2667 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59097-x www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ meristems and predisposing them for fast growth resumption, plasma may have also suppressed fungal growth thus allowing leaves to become larger. It is known that non-thermal plasma treatment reduces the fungal growth and up-regulates resistance genes in plants 40,41 .…”