Incremental effects of near-atmospheric-pressure low-temperature air plasma jet irradiation on polyphenol content in harvested onions

Abstract

Abstract We present a new food processing method to increase the content of polyphenols, which are a type of health-promoting food component, in harvested onions using atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma technologies. Harvested onions were locally irradiated for different times with a low-temperature air plasma jet generated near atmospheric pressure and stored in the dark for various periods. The plasma-irradiated area was 7 mm2. The plasma irradiation was performed without removing the onion peel. After storage following plasma irradiation, the onion was peeled and cut into the outer, middle, and inner parts, analysing polyphenol content at each edible onion part, namely the bulb. The polyphenol content in the onions irradiated for 30 min and stored for 3 d increased over that of unirradiated onions stored for the same period. This increase occurred regardless of the bulb parts. Neither the plasma-irradiated onions without storage nor the air gas-irradiated onions without air plasma irradiation exhibited a higher polyphenol content. In particular, quercetin aglycone, quercetin 4′-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, and quercetin 3,4′-O-glucoside were increased in the polyphenol content, contributing to an increase in the antioxidative activity. NO3 − and NO2 − were introduced into water under an onion peel by air plasma irradiation for 30 min and decreased after 3 d of storage but remained. However, no H2O2 was introduced. The plasma-introduced NO3 − was distributed throughout the onion owing to the plasmodesmata serving as channels for cell-to-cell transports of molecules. These results suggest that the increased polyphenol content originates from the transcriptional factors acting in stress responses to the plasma-introduced NO3 − and NO2 −, not the electric field-induced electroporation, in onion cells. The present study provides valuable insights into interactions between low-temperature air plasma jets and onion cells.