Toxic effect of plasma and ultrasound activated cashew apple juice in Artemia salina nauplii

Cashew is a tropical economically important crop. Cashew apple can be processed to improve its shelf-life and desirable characteristics by traditional methods, however, non-thermal technologies are emerging as viable methods due the preservation of organoleptic proprieties, freshness and minimizing nutritional and sensory losses. Although these technologies are emerging as an alternative for the food industry, little is known about the effect of this processing on the food matrix. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the toxic and protective effect of unprocessed and cold plasma and ultrasound-processed cashew apple juice against oxidative stress in Artemia salina nauplii. For this purpose, nauplii were exposed to cashew apple juice processed by plasma and ultrasound to test the toxicity and the protective effect of the juice against hydrogen peroxide. Nauplii were also analyzed under light and scanning electron microscopy. The cold plasma treated at 1000 Hz juice provoked deaths and structural changes in nauplii. However, also presented a protective effect, mainly at 1000 mu g.mL-1. The sonicated juice did not cause deaths although nauplii morphology was affected. The results suggest that cold plasma treatment might form toxic substances in cashew apple juice, while the ultrasonic treatment is less harmful, considering the A. salina model.

Automated summary

Cashew is an economically important tropical crop. Traditional methods can process cashew apple to improve its shelf-life and characteristics, but non-thermal technologies are becoming viable alternatives due to their preservation of sensory properties, freshness, and reduction of nutritional and sensory losses. This study aimed to evaluate the toxic and protective effects of unprocessed, cold plasma-processed, and ultrasound-processed cashew apple juice against oxidative stress in Artemia salina nauplii. The results showed that cold plasma treatment caused deaths and structural changes in the nauplii, but also provided a protective effect at a certain concentration. Ultrasonic treatment did not cause deaths but affected nauplii morphology. These findings suggest that cold plasma treatment may generate toxic substances, while ultrasonic treatment is less harmful when considering the A. salina model.