A study for achieving high effectiveness at less irradiation number on sterilization using pulsed plasma of cut vegetables packaging low oxygen atmosphere

□Pulsed plasma can be produced in a bag, even after packaging cut vegetables, by applying pulsed voltage to the package, sterilize the cut vegetables by generated active species, and reduce the risk of bacterial contamination. Currently, when the cut vegetables are packaged in the bag, in many cases, the inside of the bag is kept hypoxic atmosphere by replacing some oxygen gas to nitrogen gas to keep the vegetables freshness. However, under hypoxic atmosphere, both the concentration of generated ozone and direct sterilizing efficacy by pulsed plasma are concurrently reduced. Though increasing the number of pulses improves the sterilization effect, it concurrently amplifies damage to the vegetables. Therefore, this study goal is to achieve higher sterilizing effect of packaged cut vegetables at fewer pulsed plasma irradiation number under the controlled atmosphere (CA) condition.