Shelf-life of refrigerated Asian sea bass slices treated with cold plasma as affected by gas composition in packaging

Effect of in-bag dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (IB-DBD-CP) on the keeping quality of Asian sea bass slices (ASBS) packaged under different gases during refrigerated storage at 4 °C was studied. ASBS without and with IB-DBD-CP treatment packaged under the gas combination of argon and oxygen (10:90) (gas A) or the mixtures of carbon dioxide, argon and oxygen (60:30:10) (gas B) and the control (kept in air) were monitored for quality changes up to 18 days. ASBS treated with IB-DBD-CP, regardless of gas composition, had lower microbial loads than those without treatment and the control (p < 0.05). The shelf-life of ASBS was prolonged to 9 and 12 days after being packaged under gas A and B, respectively without IB-DBD-CP treatment, while 6 days were recorded for the control. However, ASBS treated with IB-DBD-CP, packaged under gas A and B had the shelf-life of 12 and 15 days, respectively. Throughout the storage, trimethylamine content and total volatile nitrogen base content were lower in ASBS treated with IB-DBD-CP, particularly those packaged under gas B than that without treatment and the control (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, lipid oxidation as well as protein oxidation were higher in samples treated with IB-DBD-CP, regardless of gas composition used, in comparison with untreated counterpart. Therefore, IB-DBD-CP of ASBS packaged under high ratio of CO₂ (60%) along with argon and oxygen was the potential method for augmenting the shelf-life of ASBS for >15 days at 4 °C.