LAUSR

This study evaluated the effect of plasma-activated water (PAW) treatment and blanching on the microbial and quality attributes of tiger nuts. In this study, 15 min of single PAW-10 washing and blanching at 60 °C for 5 min (BLN) resulted in 3.53 and 3.51 log CFU/g reductions for Klebsiella pneumoniae and 3.22 and 3.14 log CFU/g for total background bacteria. The sequential treatment of PAW-10 and BLN led to 3.7 and 4.36 log CFU/g reductions in K. pneumoniae and total background bacteria, respectively. Total phenolic content, lipid oxidation, DPPH scavenging activity, and sensory attributes of the treated tiger nut extracts did not change significantly compared with the control, whereas pH, total color value, FRAP radical scavenging activity, and total flavonoid content were altered. The microbial inactivation and changes observed in the treated samples were attributed to the synergistic effects of reactive species and blanching during the individual and combined treatment. This result has established PAW in combination with BLN as a promising hurdle intervention to curtail the spread of microorganisms.