Cold plasma-induced quality changes in foods and beverages and plasma’s potential use in space exploration
type: CreativeWork
description: The long duration and extreme environment of space missions have led to significant challenges (weight loss and food aversion) in providing sustenance for astronauts. Traditional treatments that extend the shelf-life of food are often synonymous with reduced sensorial quality. Furthermore, future missions, such as to Mars (in the late 2030s), will increase the need for food with prolonged long shelf-life, of diverse sensory appeal. Cold plasma (non-thermally ionised gas) can reduce the negative impacts of thermal processing methods (e.g., nutritional loss, colour leaching and texture degradation), whilst also reducing microbial growth and increasing shelf-life. Cold plasma consists of free electrons, ions, reactive atomic and molecular species, and ultraviolet radiation that can generate various chemical reactions which can be controlled through various input parameters. However, there has been little research into the sensory impacts of cold plasma treatments, especially the effects on flavour, which this PhD thesis therefore sought to address. The potential for cold plasma (a known food preservation processing tool) to enhance food flavour through intentional volatile aroma modification of foods and how this can impact food development for long-distance space missions was examined. This thesis explored five core research questions on flavour and the use of plasma, on Earth and in extreme environments, via a literature review, a preliminary study, three research articles, and two conceptual designs. The literature review focuses on how cold plasma can modify biomolecular and organoleptic properties, and the research gap into how cold plasma affects food flavour. This addressed the first research question: “What are the trends in current plasma research, and are there potential benefits for applications on Earth or in space?”. This review found that cold plasma has not only been shown to curtail microbial growth, enhancing food safety and shelf-life but also does so…
abstract: The long duration and extreme environment of space missions have led to significant challenges (weight loss and food aversion) in providing sustenance for astronauts. Traditional treatments that extend the shelf-life of food are often synonymous with reduced sensorial quality. Furthermore, future missions, such as to Mars (in the late 2030s), will increase the need for food with prolonged long shelf-life, of diverse sensory appeal. Cold plasma (non-thermally ionised gas) can reduce the negative impacts of thermal processing methods (e.g., nutritional loss, colour leaching and texture degradation), whilst also reducing microbial growth and increasing shelf-life. Cold plasma consists of free electrons, ions, reactive atomic and molecular species, and ultraviolet radiation that can generate various chemical reactions which can be controlled through various input parameters. However, there has been little research into the sensory impacts of cold plasma treatments, especially the effects on flavour, which this PhD thesis therefore sought to address. The potential for cold plasma (a known food preservation processing tool) to enhance food flavour through intentional volatile aroma modification of foods and how this can impact food development for long-distance space missions was examined. This thesis explored five core research questions on flavour and the use of plasma, on Earth and in extreme environments, via a literature review, a preliminary study, three research articles, and two conceptual designs. The literature review focuses on how cold plasma can modify biomolecular and organoleptic properties, and the research gap into how cold plasma affects food flavour. This addressed the first research question: “What are the trends in current plasma research, and are there potential benefits for applications on Earth or in space?”. This review found that cold plasma has not only been shown to curtail microbial growth, enhancing food safety and shelf-life but also does so…
author: Warne, George
language: en
keywords: Cold plasma, freeze-dried, space food, wine, aroma modification, microgravity, microfluidics
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:51:02Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/146653