Effect of Low-Pressure Glow Discharge Cold Plasma on the Quality Characteristics of Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

The present study was carried out to examine the efficacy of low-pressure glow discharge cold plasma on the quality characteristics of button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). Low-pressure (0.6 mbar) glow discharge was obtained to generate a cold plasma at 200 V with an electrode gap of 11 cm in the plasma chamber. Mushroom samples were exposed to cold plasma for different durations of time (5-15 min). The physical, chemical, and microbial qualities of the treated and untreated mushroom samples were compared. The plasma treatment on mushroom did not adversely affect the critical quality parameters, i.e., phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, elemental composition, surface morphology, color, texture, pH, and weight loss. The result of insignificance was observed with pH, texture, and weight loss for the treated and untreated samples. It was inferred from the results that there was a slight loss in nutritional properties as the treatment time increased but a greater reduction in microbial population. The shorter the duration of exposure, the greater the quality retention. The mushrooms treated with cold plasma for a period of 15 min showed higher elimination of microorganism. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results revealed that the topology and the roughness of the original smooth surfaces of the virgin substrate were dramatically changed after plasma treatment.