DEVELOPING A NOVEL LIQUID-PHASE PLASMA DISCHARGE TECHNOLOGY FOR NONTHERMAL AND CONTINUOUS MILK PROCESSING

The goal of this project is to establish a green, nonthermal plasma-based milk processing technology that will be compact, easy to operate, and efficient in producing a safe product with well-preserved sensory and nutritional characteristics and extended shelf life. Specific objectives of this proposal include 1) evaluating and optimizing a novel CLPD reactor for microbial inactivation using raw milk and pasteurized milk challenged with individual and community pathogenic bacterial species, 2) identifying operating conditions of the CLPD process that optimally preserve the physicochemical and nutritional properties of milk within conditions that achieve satisfying microbial inactivation in Objective 1), and 3) developing an up-scaled CLPD prototype for raw milk processing based on process optimization results, and comparing its performance to the high temperature/short time pasteurization.