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Onion skin constitutes a major part of industrial food waste, and cold plasma technology can be employed in the treatment of onion skin. Onion skin waste was ground and exposed to dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (DBDCP) at 40 kV for 10 or 20 min. Samples that were not DBDCP treated were used as the control. The changes in the color, microbial load, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of the onion skin waste upon treatment were evaluated. An increase in the b * and C * values of the onion skin powder (OSP) was obtained after the DBDCP treatment. The DBDCP process also decreased the total mesophilic aerobic bacteria and yeast-mold counts of the OSP by up to 0.92 and 0.97 log cfu/g (colony-forming units per gram), respectively. In addition, the TPC and antioxidant activity, as determined by 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods, were increased for up to 59% and 28%, respectively, depending on the treatment time. In conclusion, the findings of the study show that using DBDCP processing in the treatment of onion skin waste can reduce microbial count while enhancing TPC and antioxidant activity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Ground and unground dandelion roots were subjected to dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (DBDCP) at 40 kV for 0 (control), 10, or 20 min. Then, infusions of the pretreated dandelion roots in water were prepared, and the changes in color, total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and sensory properties were investigated. The 20-min pretreatment increased the b * value, TPC, antioxidant activity, and sage odor of the ground dandelion root infusions compared with the control, whereas decreases in the TPC, antioxidant activity, and sage odor were noted in the 10-min pretreated infusions of the unground roots. DBDCP pretreatment did not affect the overall likeliness of infusions of ground and unground roots. In addition, the TPC, antioxidant activity, and overall likeliness of infusions of the ground dandelion roots were higher than those of the unground samples. In conclusion, it can be said that the DBDCP pretreatment can be utilized to improve the TPC and antioxidant activity of ground dandelion roots., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)