Application of plasma-activated water (PAW) for mitigating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on cooked chicken surface

In recent years, antibiotic resistance has been a potential risk to public health. Cold plasma is an emerging nonthermal technology in food industry. Plasma-activated water (PAW) has been proposed as a novel chlorine-free disinfectant for food products in last decade. In this study, we employed PAW to inactivate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) on cooked chicken breast. The impacts of various factors on the bactericidal effects of PAW have been explored, including immersion times, treatment sequence, agitation and plasma-activated times for PAW. The use of 20-min plasma activated PAW with 20-min immersion could result in 2.09 +/- 0.17 and 2.29 +/- 0.04 log(10) CFU/g reduction for MRSA and MSSA, respectively. Similar resistance of MRSA and MSSA to PAW exposure was observed. The PAW did not change the surface color of cooked chicken breast. In addition, MRSA and MSSA kinetics under the different treatments were fitted to Weibull model with well fitness and the results showed that the inactivation effect of PAW for MSSA was better than MRSA, regardless of treatment conditions. These results indicate PAW as an alternative disinfectant for cooked meat to assure microbiological safety and abate the dissemination of antibiotic resistance among food chain.

Automated summary

The study investigated the use of PAW for inactivating MRSA and MSSA on cooked chicken breast, exploring factors such as immersion times, treatment sequence, agitation, and plasma-activated times. Results showed that PAW could effectively reduce the bacteria on the meat surface, with better inactivation effects on MSSA compared to MRSA under various treatment conditions. This suggests PAW as a potential alternative disinfectant to ensure food safety and combat antibiotic resistance in the food chain.