RECOVERY AND DECAY OF SUBLETHALLY DAMAGED CELLS OF BACILLUS CEREUS AFTER COLD PLASMA TREATMENT OF PRE-BOILED RICE

Ready to eat (RTE) meals could represent a serious risk under specific situations, when are not conveniently stored or processed at home (re-heating). The present study aims to evaluate the evolution of generated sub-lethally damaged cells of Bacillus cereus (4387 CECT) by cold plasma, when trated on pre-boiled rice, comparing final bacterial counts along the 3 days period with not-cold plasma treated samples. Results revealed reuctions close to 8 log10 cycles in B. cereus cell counts on pre-boiled rice, by cold plasma DBD treatments (O2 as carrier gas, 0.35 mbar) at 100--300 W, 1-7.5 min. These significant reduction levels are due to damage derived from DBD-cold plasma application (50-99%), which impacts on subsequent evolution and decay of cells, even under abusive storage temperatures (30ºC).