Inactivation effciencies of reactive oxygen specias on inactivation of penicilium degitatum spores by atmospheric-pressure O2/Ar plasma

Summary form only given. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) including ground-state oxygen atoms, hydroxyl radicals, excited-state oxygen molecules, and so on, are effective to inactivate bacteria. However, few studies have investigated the roles of ROS based on quantitative analysis of the gas phase. We reported that the spores of Penicillium digitatum were rapidly inactivated by high density non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP).^1,2 In this study, we have investigated the efficiencies of ROS on the inactivation of the spores of P. digitatumby using anatmospheric-pressure O2/Ar plasma. The densities of ground-state oxygen atom and excited-state oxygen molecule were measured using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) absorption spectroscopy. The NEAPP generates high-density electrons of about 10¹⁶cm⁻³. The absolute densities of O, O2, and excited-state O2 were measured by VUV absorption spectrometry using a micro-discharge hollow cathode lamp and deuterium lamp, respectively.