Cold plasma (CP) is a non-thermal preservation technology that has been successfully used to decontaminate and extend the shelf life of aquatic products. However, the preservation effect of CP treatment is determined by several factors, including voltage, time, and gas compositions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of gas composition (GasA: 10% O₂, 50% N₂, 40% CO₂; GasB: air; GasC: 30% O₂, 30% N₂, 40% CO₂) on the lipid oxidation of tilapia fillets treated after CP treatment. Changes in the lipid oxidation values, the percentages of fatty acids, and sensory scores were studied during 8 d of refrigerator storage. The results showed that the CP treatment significantly increased all the primary and secondary lipid oxidation values measured in this study, as well as the percentages of saturated fatty acids, but decreased the percentages of unsaturated fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids. The lipid oxidation values were significantly increased in the GasC-CP group. After 8 d, clearly increased percentages of saturated fatty acids, a low level of major polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially linoleic (C18:2n-6)), and a decrease in the percentages of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3) were found in GasC-CP; that is, the serious oxidation of lipids was found in the high O₂ concentration group. In addition, the sensory score was also lower than that of the hypoxia CP group. Therefore, high O₂ concentrations can enhance lipid oxidation and the changes in the fatty acid concentration. Controlling the O₂ concentration is reasonable to limit the degree to which lipids are oxidized in tilapia after the in-package CP treatment.

Cold plasma (CP) has become an alternative to conventional thermal processing of food products. In this study, the effect of cold plasma treatment time on the inactivation and quality of tilapia fillets was investigated. The surfaces of tilapia fillets were inoculated with Salmonella enteritis (S. enteritis), Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), and a mixture of both before being treated with cold plasma at 70 kV for 0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 s. With the extension of treatment time, the number of colonies on the surface of the fillets decreased gradually; after 300 s of cold plasma treatment, S. enteritis and L. monocytogenes populations were reduced by 2.34 log CFU/g and 1.69 log CFU/g, respectively, and the a* value and immobile water content decreased significantly (p < 0.05), while the free water content increased significantly (p < 0.05). TBARS value increased significantly (p < 0.05) to 1.83 mg MDA/kg for 300 s treatment. The carbonyl value and sulfhydryl value of sarcoplasmic protein significantly (p < 0.05) increased and decreased, respectively, as treatment time extension, while no significant changes were found in myofibrillar protein. No significant differences were observed in pH, b* value, elasticity, chewiness, thiol value, and TVB-N value. The results showed that cold plasma had an inactivation effect on tilapia fillets and could preserve their original safety indicators. It was concluded that CP treatment could be used as an effective non-thermal method to maintain the quality of tilapia fillets and extend their shelf-life.

In order to investigate the effects of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) treatment on the number of microorganisms in and the quality of Trachinotus ovatus during refrigerator storage, fresh fish was packaged with gases CO₂:O₂:N₂ (80%:10%:10%) and treated by HVACP at 75 kV for 3 min; then, the samples were stored at 4 ± 1 °C for nine days. The microbial numbers, water content, color value, texture, pH value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), and total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) values of the fish were analyzed during storage. The results showed the growth of the total viable bacteria (TVB), psychrophilic bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., H₂S-producing bacteria, yeast, and lactic acid bacteria in the treated samples was limited, and they were 1.11, 1.01, 1.04, 1.13, 0.77, and 0.80 log CFU/g⁻¹ lower than those in the control group after nine days of storage, respectively. The hardness, springiness, and chewiness of the treated fish decreased slowly as the storage time extended, and no significant changes in either pH or water content were found. The lightness (L*) value increased and the yellowness (b*) value decreased after treatment, while no changes in the redness (a*) value were found. The TBARS and TVB-N of the treated samples increased to 0.79 mg/kg and 21.99 mg/100 g, respectively, after nine days of refrigerator storage. In conclusion, HVACP can limit the growth of the main microorganisms in fish samples effectively during nine days of refrigerator storage with no significant negative impact on their quality. Therefore, HVACP is a useful nonthermal technology to extend the refrigerator shelf-life of Trachinotus ovatus.

This study investigated the effects of different cold plasma treatment conditions on the lipid oxidation kinetics of tilapia fillets. The results indicated that increasing the voltage and prolonging the treatment time of cold plasma could cause an increase in the peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance values of the fillets. The changes in the primary and secondary oxidation rates of the lipids in the fillets under different treatment conditions were consistent with zero-order reaction kinetics. The analysis of the fitting of the Arrhenius equation showed that the effect of treatment voltage on the activation energy of lipid oxidation was higher than that of treatment time. When the voltage was higher than 64.71 kV, the activation energy of the primary oxidation of lipids was greater than that of secondary oxidation. Within 0–5 min, the activation energy of primary oxidation first increased then decreased, and was always greater than that of secondary oxidation. Therefore, the primary lipid oxidation of tilapia was more sensitive to the treatment conditions of cold plasma.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the gel properties and gelation mechanism of a surimi blend consisting of Katsuwonus pelamis and Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis. Superior gel properties, including gel strength, cooking loss and water holding capacity, were observed in mixed surimi. With increasing proportions of K. pelamis in the blend, an increase in hardness, gumminess and chewiness emerged, which compromised the resilience and whiteness of the gels. The detection of apparent viscosity revealed the shear-thinning properties of mixed surimi. The results of the molecular force measurements and differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that heterogeneous myofibrillar proteins interacted into rigid protein aggregates with the help of enhanced hydrophobic interactions, subsequently increasing the values of G’ and G”. According to the FTIR spectrum, as the proportion of K. pelamis gradually increased, the protein secondary structure of surimi transitioned from a random coil to a β-sheet, facilitating the formation of a more ordered network structure. A marked improvement in the microstructure was observed via SEM. Therefore, the incorporation of surimi can be employed to optimize gel properties.