Virucidal Effects of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma on Human Norovirus Infectivity in Fresh Oysters ( Crassostrea gigas )

• Published in: Foods
• Main Authors: Man-Seok Choi, Eun Bi Jeon, Ji Yoon Kim, Eun Ha Choi, Jun Sup Lim, Jinsung Choi, Kwang Soo Ha, Ji Young Kwon, Sang Hyeon Jeong, Shin Young Park
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: dielectric barrier discharge plasma; food safety; human norovirus; propidium monoazide; shellfish; Chemical technology; TP1-1185; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9121731; https://doaj.org/article/448c382f11ef491aa1d1bde4dbbc4ecb

This study investigates the effects of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment (1.1 kV, 43 kHz, N 2 1.5 L/min, 10~60 min) on human norovirus (HuNoV) GII.4 infectivity in fresh oysters. HuNoV viability in oysters was assessed by using propidium monoazide (PMA) as a nucleic acid intercalating dye before performing a real-time reverse transcription–quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Additionally, the impact of the DBD plasma treatment on pH and Hunter colors was assessed. When DBD plasma was treated for 60 min, the HuNoV genomic titer reduction without PMA pretreatment was negligible (<1 log copy number/µL), whereas when PMA treatment was used, HuNoV titer was reduced to >1 log copy number/µL in just 30 min. D 1 and D 2 -value of HuNoV infectivity were calculated as 36.5 and 73.0 min of the DBD plasma treatment, respectively, using the first-order kinetics model (R 2 = 0.98). The pH and Hunter colors were not significantly different ( p > 0.05) between the untreated and DBD-plasma-treated oysters. The results suggest that PMA/RT-qPCR could help distinguish HuNoV infectivity without negatively affecting oyster quality following >30 min treatment with DBD plasma. Moreover, the inactivation kinetics of nonthermal DBD plasma against HuNoV in fresh oysters might provide basic information for oyster processing and distribution.