Decontamination of food packages from SARS-COV-2 RNA with a cold plasma-assisted system

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.

Tappi, SilviaUniversity of Bologna (author)
Gritti, TommasoUniversity of Bologna (author)
De Aguiar Saldanha Pinheiro, Ana CristinaUniversity of Bologna (author)
Laurita, RomoloUniversity of Bologna (author)
Tylewicz, UrszulaUniversity of Bologna (author)
Spataro, FrancescoUniversity of Bologna (author)
Braschi, GiacomoUniversity of Bologna (author)
Lanciotti, RosalbaUniversity of Bologna (author)
Galindo, Federico GómezLund University,Lunds universitet,Avdelningen för livsmedel och läkemedel,Institutionen för processteknik och tillämpad biovetenskap,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Division of Food and Pharma,Department of Process and Life Science Engineering,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH(Swepub:lu)ltkk-fgo (author)
Siracusa, ValentinaUniversity of Catania (author)
Romani, SantinaUniversity of Bologna (author)
Gherardi, MatteoUniversity of Bologna (author)
Colombo, VittorioUniversity of Bologna (author)
Sambri, VittorioUniversity of Bologna,The Great Romagna Hub Laboratory (author)
Rocculi, PietroUniversity of Bologna (author)
University of BolognaAvdelningen för livsmedel och läkemedel (creator_code:org_t)

By the author/editor: Capelli, Filippo; Tappi, Silvia; Gritti, Tommaso; De Aguiar Saldan ...; Laurita, Romolo; Tylewicz, Urszul ...; show more...; Spataro, Frances ...; Braschi, Giacomo; Lanciotti, Rosal ...; Galindo, Federic ...; Siracusa, Valent ...; Romani, Santina; Gherardi, Matteo; Colombo, Vittori ...; Sambri, Vittorio; Rocculi, Pietro; show less...

About the subject

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES: AGRICULTURAL SCI ...; and Agriculture Fore ...; and Food Science

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