M. S. Roopesh

Biofilms pose significant challenges in the food processing industry. This study used plasma‐activated mist (PAM) prepared from plasma‐activated water (PAW) for surface decontamination of Escherichia coli biofilms. PAW was produced at three different temperatures (4°C ± 0.2°C, 21°C ± 0.2°C, and 35°C ± 0.2°C) for two different plasma generation times (10 and 20 min), with or without the addition of chemicals (100 ppm NaOH or 340 ppm H ₂ O ₂ ), named as plasma‐activated solution (PAS). The PAM treatment using 4°C PAW achieved 1.56 ± 0.04 log CFU/cm ² microbial reduction in biofilms. This research demonstrates the potential of PAM as an industrial disinfection method to reduce reliance on chemical disinfectants, offering a promising, more sustainable alternative.

Plant proteins are emerging food ingredients in the food processing industry. Fava bean proteins are highly nutritious due to their complete amino acid profile, making them an ideal candidate for human consumption. However, they exhibit poor functionality, including poor solubility and gelling properties. To improve the functionality of fava bean protein isolates (FBPI), cold plasma treatments can be used for protein modification and improvement of functionality. Cold plasma is a non‐thermal technology that produces reactive species capable of modifying the structure and functionalities of plant proteins. This study explored the effects of continuous dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma on FBPI. Continuous treatments were investigated as they are more scalable compared to batch treatments, which can be time‐consuming and expensive. For treatment, FBPI were combined with water to create a consistent suspension, which was then recirculated between a sample container and the treatment platform, where it was exposed to DBD plasma. FBPI exposed to DBD plasma demonstrated changes in secondary structures, primarily transforming α‐helices into β‐sheets, with 12.5% and 66% increases in β‐sheets for dry and wet FBPI (DW‐FBPI) and deep eutectic solvent extracted FBPI (DES‐FBPI) samples, respectively. In addition, treated DES‐FBPI gels heated at 80°C exhibited a 70% increase in gel hardness, as determined by texture profile analyses. Improvements in 3D printability were also observed, including enhanced gel extrudability and increased structural rigidity. Overall, DBD plasma‐treated samples produced 3D‐printed structures that were more precise, rigid, and with reduced deformation. Overall, DBD plasma treatments were shown to be an effective method for modifying the structural and functional properties of FBPI.

Cold stress during early growth can severely impact nodulation, growth, and yield in legumes. This study evaluated cold plasma (CP) seed treatment as a strategy to enhance growth and symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) in field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) under cold stress during early growth. CP-treated and non-treated seeds were grown at 8 °C (cold) or 15 °C (control) for 5 weeks, after which half of the plants were harvested for nodulation and growth assessments. The remainder were transferred to greenhouse conditions until maturity. The cold stress suppressed nodulation and reduced biomass in both legumes. Soybean recovered under greenhouse conditions; however, pea yield remained suppressed. At maturity, SNF traits in both legumes were not significantly affected by early cold stress. CP seed treatment showed little effect under severe cold (8 °C) but at 15 °C, improved root growth in pea and enhanced root and shoot biomass and pod and seed yield in soybean. These findings suggest that CP seed treatment can improve legume performance under moderate cold. However, the current CP seed treatment conditions did not improve the stress resistance of both crops under severe cold stress.

Fava bean protein is an emerging food ingredient with many health benefits and great potential in the plant-based meat industry.

In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) food printing has seen substantial advancements, facilitating the production of highly customizable food products by integrating complex design and functional elements. This technology allows for fine-tuning visual characteristics, nutritional content, texture, and organoleptic properties according to individual consumer needs. Recently, 3D food printing has been used to encapsulate bioactive compounds to increase the nutritional value of food products. In addition, 3D printing has been explored for developing meat and cheese alternatives, cell-cultured meat, and scaffold development in cellular agriculture to obtain more efficient and personalized processes for food production. This review systematically examines recent progress in 3D food printing, focusing mainly on the applications in the domains mentioned above, and discusses the challenges and future research directions. Thus, this review can guide future research to achieve better 3D printed products using these emerging methods.

Water quality is a crucial aspect of public health, and microbial contamination remains a significant challenge, necessitating the exploration of innovative water treatment methods.

Cold plasma (CP) technology is an emerging technology with the potential to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. Although its application in crop production is still in the early stages, CP seed treatment has demonstrated promise in improving various growth parameters, especially in legumes. We hypothesized that CP seed treatment can improve nodulation, symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF), root and shoot growth, overall productivity, and drought stress resistance in field pea. A controlled environmental study was conducted to investigate the effects of dielectric barrier discharge-generated CP seed treatment for 6 min on yellow field pea under different moisture regimes [30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% field capacity (FC)], focusing on nodulation, and root and shoot growth parameters at the flowering stage. Based on experiment-1 findings, 30% and 75% FC were selected as drought and well-watered conditions, respectively, to study the effect of CP seed treatments on SNF parameters at the flowering stage and nitrogen fixation, yield, and seed quality parameters at maturity. CP seed treatment improved root growth parameters at the flowering stage and an increasing trend was observed for shoot and nodulation parameters across different moisture levels. As an independent factor, moisture stress negatively affected nodulation and shoot growth parameters at the flowering stage. CP seed treatment improved nitrogen fixation and yield parameters under well-watered conditions compared to drought conditions at seed maturity. However, the seed protein content or the quality was not improved by the CP seed treatment. Grain yield, yield parameters, grain nitrogen, and nitrogen fixation were reduced under drought stress compared to the well-watered condition. Therefore, these findings underscore the potential of CP to enhance crop performance in well-watered conditions. The underperformance of the CP-treated seeds at drought conditions is not well understood and warrants further investigation.