ISHS Acta Horticulturae 826: I International Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Conference on Culinary Herbs
MICROBIAL DECONTAMINATION STUDY OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS BY PLASMA TREATMENT |
| Authors: | S.B. Kalkaslief-Souza, I.S. Kikuchi, R.D. Mansano, A.J. Moreira, M.R. Nemţanu, T.J.A. Pinto |
| Keywords: | artichoke, chamomile, ginkgo, guarana, microorganisms |
| Abstract:
The work deals with the investigation on the microbial decontamination of some medicinal plants by plasma treatment. Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.) and guarana (Paulinia cupana) were treated in plasma system using both oxygen gas and gas mixture of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The efficiency of the decontamination process was analyzed by the count of heterotropic microorganisms and pathogenic research (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger). The results showed a reduction in the microorganism number such as 3 and 4 logarithmic cycles for ginkgo and artichoke, respectively, suggesting the treatment could be a suitable method to decontaminate them. At the same time, the plasma treatment was not efficient for guarana and chamomile, probably because guarana contains hard and thick cells, and chamomile presents a combination of mucilage and plasma, which prevent from decontaminating. | |
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