Assessing the Effect of Pin-to-Plate Atmospheric Cold Plasma on the Characteristics of Human Milk

Abstract

Donor human milk (DHM) is pasteurized with holder pasteurization (HoP) in human milk banks (HMBs). Being a conventional method, different studies have reported that HoP affects the nutritional and biological properties of human milk (HM), and are looking for novel non-thermal treatments. The present work evaluated the effect of cold plasma (CP) as a non-thermal treatment on HM constituents. DHM samples were collected from a HMB and subjected to pin-to-plate atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment at voltages of 170, 200, and 230 V for exposure times of 1, 3, and 5 min. These were compared with thermal pasteurization (TP) at 62.5°C for 30 min as low temperature long time (LTLT) and 72°C for 15 s as high temperature short time (HTST). CP treatment at 230 V for 3 min resulted in a significant reduction in total plate count (TPC) by 1.03 log CFU/mL and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) by 0.46 log CFU/mL (p < 0.05). CP treatment resulted in higher antioxidant activity compared to TP. Bioactive components were differentially affected, with HTST increasing leptin concentration, CP preserving lactoferrin, and both CP and TP maintaining similar levels of lysozyme and IgA. There was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in pH, color, and sedimentation index, along with an increase in total soluble solids (TSS), viscosity, and fat globule count post-CP treatment with increasing voltage and time. Nutritional composition remained similar to the control HM sample under mild CP conditions. Hence, CP could be a promising technology for pasteurizing HM in milk banks with minimal quality change under optimized treatment conditions.

Keywords

antioxidant / cold plasma / human milk / microbial / pasteurization

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2025 The Author(s). Food Bioengineering published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. on behalf of State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology.