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Microwave‐powered cold plasma (CP) treatment was evaluated as a means to increase the antioxidant activity, water solubility, and dispersion stability of prickly pear cactus fruit (Opuntia ficus‐indica (L.) Mill.) extract. The extract (2 g) was treated at various CP generation powers and treatment times at 25 °C to 28 °C. The antioxidant activity of the prickly pear cactus fruit extract increased by 1.8% and 1.7% after CP treatment at 750 W for 40 min and 856 W for 36 min, respectively. Both the water solubility and dispersion stability (delta backscattering) of the extract increased by 2.4% and 0.1%, respectively, following CP treatment at 644 W for 36 min. These results suggest the potential of CP treatment to increase the applicability of the prickly pear cactus fruit extract and possibly other insoluble natural antioxidant compounds in foods by improving their antioxidant activities and solubility in water. Practical Application: Prickly pear cactus fruit is a functional food with a high antioxidant concentration. This study demonstrated that cold plasma treatment improved the water solubility and dispersion stability of prickly pear cactus fruit extract without altering or improving its antioxidant activity. The obtained results suggested the potential of applying cold plasma technology to improve the applicability of the extract, which is difficult to solubilize in food systems, to various processed foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gulfweed‐based edible materials were developed in forms of food film and coating. Gulfweed suspension was subjected to high‐pressure homogenization (HPH) at 103, 138, and 193 MPa with 1, 2, and 3 passes, and mixed with 14, 30, 50, and 70% (w/w gulfweed) glycerol and 1% (w/w gulfweed) polysorbate 20 to produce a film‐forming suspension. The particle size of the suspension decreased with increasing pressure from 103 to 193 MPa and pass number from 1 to 3. The HPH‐treated gulfweed suspension behaved like a pseudo‐plastic non‐Newtonian fluid. High pressure and pass number generally decreased the suspension viscosity. Uniformity and compactness of the films increased with increasing pressure. The optimal conditions for forming a film with high stretchability, low water vapor permeability, low and water solubility, as well as for preparing bright‐colored coated smoked salmon, were found to be 193 MPa, three passes of HPH, and a glycerol concentration of 70%. Coating smoked salmon with gulfweed suspension enhanced the redness without altering its texture and volatile properties. The method reported in this study may be useful for seaweed‐based edible film production, increasing their potential application to various food products like red meats. Practical Application: Seaweeds have high nutritional and functional values, but they are not commonly used as food materials owing to their appearance and size. Therefore, it is important to develop methods to utilize seaweeds by overcoming appearance and size limitations. A self‐standing film/coating using gulfweed was developed in this study, making use of commercially available high‐pressure homogenization technology. The method developed herein might enable increased applications of gulfweed and possibly other seaweeds to food products such as films, rolls, or coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No prior research has investigated whether the cold plasma treatment (CPT) resulted in the formation of toxic compounds. Therefore, this study carried out the experiment to check the safety of edible films treated with cold plasma by examining their acute and subacute oral toxicity in a rat model. Single-dose acute (5000 mg/kg body weight) and 14-d subacute (1000 mg/kg body weight/day) oral toxicity of cold plasma-treated edible films was assessed for male and female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Rats administered 5000 mg/kg of edible film did not show the signs of acute toxicity or death after 14 d of observation. Similarly, no signs of acute toxicity or death were recorded during 14 d in rats administered 1000 mg/kg/day of edible film treated with cold plasma. Although changes in the levels of several blood components (hematocrit, hemoglobin, bilirubin, creatinine, and aspartate aminotransferase) of samples were observed, the changes compared to the control were considered to be toxicologically irrelevant as their levels were within normal physiological ranges. Macroscopic analysis showed there were no changes in color or texture of representative liver sections of SD rats following the oral administration of edible films with CPT (F-CP) or without CPT (F-NT). The results demonstrate that the cold plasma-treated edible film possessed very low toxicity, suggesting that CPT does not generate harmful by-products in the edible film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]