| Summary: | The control of the pathogenic load on foodstuff is a key element in food safety. Particularly, seafood like cold-smoked salmon is threaten by pathogens such as Salmonella sp. or Listeria monocytogenes . Despite existing strict hygienic concepts, the producing industry highly demands novel, reliable methods for a microbial decontamination. Behind that background, a microwave plasma-based decontamination technique via plasma-processed air (PPA) is presented. Thereby, the samples undergo two treatment steps, a pre-treatment where PPA is produced when compressed air flows over a plasma torch and a post-treatment step where the PPA acts on the samples. This publication embraces experiments that compare the total viable count (tvc) of bacteria found on PPA-treated raw (rs) and cold-smoked salmon (css) samples and their references. The tvc over the storage time have been evaluated using a logistic growth model, which reveals a PPA sensitivity for rs. A shelf-life prolongation of 2 days was determined. When css is PPA-treated, the treatment reveals no further impact. When PPA treated rs is compared with PPA-untreated css, a PPA-treatment appeared as reliable as a cold-smoking process and retarded the growth of cultivable bacteria in the same manner. The experiments have been flanked by quality measurements such as color and texture measurements before and after a PPA-treatment. Salmon samples, which undergo an overtreatment, solely show light changes like a whitish surface flocculation. A relatively mild treatment as applied in the storage experiments has no further detected impact on the fish matrix. The data embraced by that post show the basis for all graphs and statements made in the publication "Microbial control of raw and cold-smoked Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) through a microwave-plasma treatment"
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