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Rice Science, 2022, 29(1): 1í15

Review

Cold Plasma: A Potential Alternative for Rice Grain Postharvest

Treatment Management in Malaysia

Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL1, Norizah REDZUAN1, Muhamad Nor Firdaus ZAINAL1,
Norhayati AHMAD1, Raja Kamarulzaman RAJA IBRAHIM2, Linda AGUN1
(1School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia;
2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia)

Abstract: Use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers is among the techniques to control insect pests and
fungal pathogens. However, the technique is the major contributor to severe environmental implications
in terms of air, water and soil pollution. Besides, variable inconsistency becomes an important issue in the
implementation of inclined bed dryers, leading to significant rice grain loss. Cold plasma technology has
been widely proposed as a potential alternative for rice grain postharvest treatment management due to
the presence of generated ionised gas that eventually produces reactive oxygen species or reactive
nitrogen species. These species are used to decontaminate foodborne pathogens, mycotoxins and
bacterial diseases. This review explores the current literature regarding cold plasma treatment technology,
focusing on its efficiency as the microbial decontamination medium and insect pest mortality medium, and
on the enhancement functional, nutritional and cooking properties, especially in rice grains. Previous
studies have successfully demonstrated the ability of cold plasma treatment to significantly reduce the
microbial count of foodborne pathogens, detoxify mycotoxins, and control seedborne rice seedling
bacterial diseases. Previous studies have also proved that the implementation of cold plasma technology
in postharvest management should be seriously considered for improving rice grain quantity and quality
in Malaysia.
Key words: rice grain; postharvest management; cold plasma; microbial decontamination; bacterial control

With the global population increment, the future (DOSM, 2020a). The decrease of paddy production
demand for staple food, especially rice, is estimated to eventually leads to a worrying self-sufficiency ratio of
increase. In fact, 80% of global rice is consumed by rice at 69% in 2018, which is sufficient to make all
Asian people. In Malaysia, approximately 30%±40% local food technology scientists aware about the
of rice is imported to fulfil the annual domestic rice importance of research and development to ensure
demand (Omar et al, 2019). The increase of domestic future rice sustainability with improved quality (DOSM,
rice demand is consistent with the steady increment of 2020b). Globally, the trend of paddy production
Malaysia¶s population, which was estimated from decrement has been recorded in main rice producers
32.5 million in 2019 to 32.7 million in 2020 (DOSM, such as Thailand (Amnuaylojaroen et al, 2021), Vietnam
2020a). However, the rice production security and (Trinh et al, 2021), Indonesia (Agus et al, 2021),
sovereignty in Malaysia are at stake due to the China, India and Myanmar (Wu et al, 2021).
significant reduction of paddy production by 11% Based on the 2019 Annual Report by the Department
from 2.64 × 106 t in 2018 to 2.35 × 106 t in 2019 of Meteorology Malaysia, the average temperature

Received: 6 January 2021; Accepted: 17 May 2021

Corresponding authors: Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL ([email protected]); Norizah REDZUAN ([email protected])
Copyright © 2022, China National Rice Research Institute. Hosting by Elsevier B V
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer review under responsibility of China National Rice Research Institute
http://dx.doi.org/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rsci.2021.12.001
 2 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022

shows an increase of 0.66 ºC±0.71 ºC compared to the drying eventually reduces the rice grain quantity and
normal temperature, which is contributed by the quality (head rice yield) by the presence of microbial
climate change and El-Nino Southern Oscillation organisms and agricultural pests (Jittanit et al, 2010).
cycle, leading to various extreme weather conditions, For industrial scale, the use of inclined bed dryers has
such as strong winds, heavy rains, heat waves and dry been implemented, but certain limitations still exist
weather conditions (MetMalaysia, 2019). Under the especially in terms of operational parameter optimization
current climate circumstances, a temperature increment such as efficient ventilation systems, impurity percentage
of 1 ºC may affect the rice grain yield by 9.6%±10.0% prior to drying, paddy bed optimum thickness, drying
(Peng et al, 2004). Moreover, rice production might air temperature, drying period and air flowrate
drop by 9%±10% when the night temperature (Ibrahim et al, 2014; Sahari et al, 2018).
increases and exceeds 25 ºC. The concern arises as In recent years, cold plasma has become one of the
rice production is predicted to decrease significantly prospective alternatives, especially for postharvest
due to natural phenomena related to climate changes, treatment management purposes. This technology is
such as dry spell due to 15% decrease of rainfall and feasible for large-volume applications without any
flood due to 15% increase of rainfall. Based on harmful residues and additional chemicals, and it can
recorded observation data, the temperature increment inactivate or decontaminate pathogens without causing
delayed the heading date, which led to delayed rice thermal damage (Ochi et al, 2017; Ten Bosch et al,
production. Recent mathematical model developed has 2017; Amnuaysin et al, 2018; Lee et al, 2018; Penado
projected the decrease of mean rice production by et al, 2018; Poonsawat et al, 2018). Attention has
5%±7%, due to temperature increase during grain- recently been focused on the emerging cold plasma
filling period (Ahn et al, 2021). The change in treatment technology on rice grain, which is reflected
temperature eventually affects the growth of rice in in the perspective of rice grain postharvest management
terms of nutrient and water absorption, photosynthesis in Malaysia. Therefore, this review highlights the
as well as respiration processes (Hong et al, 2018). fundamentals and potential of cold plasma as a
Applied techniques, such as pesticides, herbicides microbial decontamination medium and an insect pest
and fertilizers, have led to severe environmental mortality medium, enhancement of rice grain quality
implications, especially in terms of air, water and soil through cold plasma, and influence of treatment
pollution (Habibi et al, 2019; Harun et al, 2020). parameters (i.e., voltage and power, gas type and
Moreover, those techniques significantly contribute to treatment time).
greenhouse gas emissions, which is one of the main
Fundamentals of cold plasma technology
factors of global warming and climate change (Yodkhum
et al, 2017; Jeong et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2019). In Cold plasma is commonly referred to as the fourth
Malaysia, the agricultural sector is just a small state of matter with special characteristics. Cold
contributor of greenhouse gases with 4% from the plasma is an ionised gas composed of excited species
nation¶s total emission, but 33% of the agricultural of atoms, molecules and ions coexisting with the
emission is from synthetic fertilizers. It was projected reactive species of electrons, negative and positive
that in 2020, the rice cultivation sub-sector would ions, free radicals, atoms and molecules in the excited
contribute approximately 19.4% of the total agricultural or ground state. Due to its non-equilibrium status, the
sector emission (MESTECC, 2018). gas persists at low temperatures due to the cooling of
For the sake of food security, a great emphasis on ions and uncharged molecules rather than electron
maintaining the quality of stored rice grain has been energy transfer (Bourke et al, 2018). Through the
taken into consideration. However, it has become a application of thermal energy (heating) or electromagnetic
real challenge to maintain a good quality of stored rice fields (electric fields or high energy light), the given
grain for an extended period due WR0DOD\VLD¶VWURSLFDO gas can be ionised. The application of an electrical
climate. Consequently, the national rice grain storage field is the most well-known method for technical
might be jeopardised due to the decrease of rice grain applications of plasma at room temperature under
quality in terms of rice grain discolouration and odour, atmospheric pressure conditions. The word µcold¶ is
as well as loss due to presence of mould, fungi and often debatable within the context of cold plasma
unwanted stored pests (Rukunudin, 2009). Apart from technology. In this context, cold is neither applied to
rice grain storage, improper or non-uniform rice grain sub-zero temperatures nor the convention concerning
Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL, et al. Cold Plasma: Alternative for Rice Grain Treatment in Malaysia 3

a temperature range. It is informally considered that foodborne diseases (Ha et al, 2012). Besides, the
plasma sources operating at near ambient temperatures existence of mycotoxins deteriorates crops, affecting
below 60 ºC may be recognised as cold plasmas human health (Placinta et al, 1999; Pestka, 2010). The
(Misra et al, 2019a, b). failure to control seedborne rice seedling bacterial
Technically, cold plasma discharge is regulated by diseases results in yield loss (Webster, 1992).
the Townsend-based ionisation avalanche mechanism. The initial microbial count of E. coli was set at 5.79
As a high voltage current is applied, free electrons are and 5.80 log CFU/g for cooked brown and white rice,
accelerated and aggressively collide with neutral gas respectively. Using the cold plasma source generated
atoms. Consequently, the collision leads to the gas from a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with the
ionisation phase. As the process continues, electron input power of 250 W, the rice samples are exposed
and ion avalanches are present in the gas gap where for 5, 10 and 20 min. The longest treatment duration
ion avalanches are accelerated to the cathode (i.e., contributes to the highest reduction of E. coli count,
ground electrode), while electron avalanches are with the final count of 2.01 and 2.03 log CFU/g for
accelerated to the anode (i.e., high voltage electrode). cooked brown and white rice, respectively. Similar
The high intensity of the avalanches allows the ion experimental procedures were applied using another
avalanches to release electrons from the ground foodborne pathogen, B. cereus. The initial microbial
electrode, igniting the release of self-sustaining gas as count of B. cereus is reduced significantly from 5.68
the phase approaches the breakdown voltage (Wagner and 5.67 log CFU/g to 3.39 and 0.05 log CFU/g for
et al, 2003). cooked brown and white rice, respectively, after the
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive longest exposure of 20 min (Lee et al, 2018).
nitrogen species (RNS) have been identified as the Moreover, the cold plasma treatment of 250 W with
most active plasma components that can induce the maximum exposure time of 20 min successfully
oxidation, and these species are highly responsible for reduces the microbial count of B. subtilis from 4.23 to
the degradation of organic compounds or the 1.29 log CFU/g for brown rice (Lee et al, 2016). The
inactivation of microorganisms (Laroussi and Leipold, inactivation of E. coli, B. cereus and B. subtilis is
2004; Surowsky et al, 2015). Due to high reactivity, initiated by the accumulation of sufficient charged
ROS and RNS can react with all cell components by particles on pathogens¶ surface, which eventually
breaking chemical bonds and cell membrane lesions. forms an electrical field and produces cavity in
As a result, most reactive species contribute to etching pathogens¶ membrane (Guo et al, 2015).
and ultimately disperse macromolecules inside cells The condition of paddy with 15% moisture content
(Abd El-Aziz et al, 2014; Park et al, 2015; Yang et al, and relative humidity of 75% at 25 ºC attracts the
2016). ROS and RNS may be used to provide growth development of Aspergillus restrictus, A.
important macronutrients to the targeted rice grain, glaucus and A. candidus, with their optimal growth
resulting in the inactivation and decontamination of temperature of 30 ºC to 35 ºC (A. restrictus and A.
pathogenic fungi, thereby stopping the development of glaucus) and 45 ºC to 50 ºC (A. candidus) (Lacey et al,
mycotoxins (Khamsen et al, 2016). 1980). With that condition, the appropriate drying and
microbial inactivation techniques are required. Several
Cold plasma as microbial decontamination
previous attempts have been made for drying of high
medium
moisture paddy using mixed flow dryer (Mondal et al,
Microbial decontamination in rice grain postharvest 2019), microwave treatment (Smith, 2017), as well as
management should be seriously considered due to the combined impinging stream and pneumatic drying
presence of various foodborne pathogens, such as E. (Nimmol et al, 2012). However, several limitations
coli, B. cereus and B. subtilis (Lee et al, 2016, 2018), have been identified such as non-uniform drying
mycotoxins produced by Fusarium, Aspergillus and distribution and inconsistency drying (Li et al, 2011;
Alternaria alternata (Ten Bosch et al, 2017) as well as Wang et al, 2019), as well as lower head rice yield
seedborne rice seedling bacterial diseases, for instance, (Nimmol et al, 2012) although high drying rates
F. fujikuroi and B. plantarii (Ochi et al, 2017). The achieved, especially in both microwave treatment and
presence of foodborne pathogens cannot be neglected pneumatic drying. Operationally, for cold plasma
as the pathogens are easily discovered in raw and treatment, electrical discharge plays the main role in
cooked rice; thus, a person can be highly exposed to order to generate chemical and bioactive radicals in
 4 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022

terms of ROS and RNS (Laroussi and Leipold, 2004), identified as the most active plasma components that
which makes cold plasma the appropriate technique can induce oxidation and are significantly responsible
for microbial inactivation. However, for large scale for the degradation of mycotoxins that contribute to
volume of high moisture paddy, the multi-phase the cleavage of molecular bonds (Hopfe and Sheel,
treatment system should be considered to improve 2007). The cold plasma treatment towards the rice
drying and microbial decontamination effectiveness. grains also has no significant change in terms of
For example, early phase of high moisture paddy antioxidant activities on rice kernel (Yodpitak et al,
drying is carried out using mixed flow dryer, before 2019), although the treated rice grain samples are
being post-treated by cold plasma system to ensure exposed with ROS and RNS. However, evaluation of
total microbial decontamination without causing any antioxidant activity level on rice grains with respect of
thermal damage to treated rice grains, since cold storage duration (e.g. 1, 2 and 3 months) is suggested
plasma treatment has advantage in terms of microbial to be the focus in future research.
decontamination as well as no thermal damage to Furthermore, successful control of seedborne rice
treated grains (Niemira, 2012), while mixed flow seedling bacterial diseases (e.g., F. fujikuroi and B.
dryer ensures higher head rice yield in comparison plantarii) using cold plasma treatment might become
with conventional method (Mondal et al, 2019). the game-changer in rice grain postharvest management.
Cold plasma exposure on mycotoxins is demonstrated The rice seed samples are inoculated with F. fujikuroi
using the extracts of rice cultures from fumonisin B1, and B. plantarii before being immersed in sterile
enniatin B, sterigmatocystin and zearalenone to distilled water for 10 min at 50 ºC and are
produce F. verticillioides, F. avenaceum, A. nidulans subsequently exposed to a cold plasma source for 10
and F. graminearum mycotoxins, respectively. Each min. A customised setup of a cylindrical DBD with
mycotoxin with the initial level of 100 —g/mL was the applied voltage of 20 kV and air flowrate of 16
exposed to the plasma source of a DBD with an L/min is used to generate plasma discharge. Two
approximate power density of 4 W/cm2, discharge gap indicators are evaluated for assessing the efficiency of
of 2 mm and air flow of 130 L/min. In general, the cold plasma treatment: the percentage of plants with
degradation rate for all mycotoxins decreases as the symptoms and the disease severity index (DSI).
plasma exposure duration increases. From the Bakanae disease initiated by F. fujikuroi is successfully
observation, the degradation rates of fumonisin B1 reduced by 7.8% and 18.1% for the percentage of
and enniatin B show linear decay, requiring only plants with symptoms and DSI, respectively. Additionally,
about 10 s for both mycotoxins to complete the DSI for bacterial seedling blight initiated by B.
degradation process. Meanwhile, the exponential plantarii is significantly decreased by 38.6% and
decay behaviour can be observed in the degradation 40.1% in vacuum-inoculated seeds and infected seeds
rates of sterigmatocystin and zearalenone, which requires harvested from spray-inoculated rice plant heads,
a slightly longer duration, approximately 20 s for respectively (Ochi et al, 2017). The production of
complete degradation (Lars et al, 2017). Significant ROS during cold plasma exposure might become the
degradation of aflatoxins B1 by 90% and 70% was major factor in reducing the percentage of plants with
reported for cold plasma treatment at 60 W for 12 min symptoms and DSI, especially through the accumulation
and 40 W for 15 min, respectively (Devi et al, 2017). of H2O2 and the possible activation of plant immune
In addition, recent report shows the 99% reduction of systems (Torres et al, 2006; Hayashi et al, 2014).
deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxin using 85 kV cold
Cold plasma as insect pest mortality medium
plasma treatment with treatment time of 20 min (Ott
et al, 2021). Mechanism of mycotoxins degradation Insect pest infestation contributes to 5% of global rice
through cold plasma exposure is eventually related to grain loss (Xu et al, 2017). Thus, the study of optimal
the generation of free radicals such as O· and ·OH conditions for insect life cycle characteristics is
during treatment. Electrically generated cold plasma crucial to reduce rice grain loss. In general, the
discharge eventually ionizes H2O molecules, O2 and optimal conditions for the insect life cycle depend on
CO2 from utilized precursors which lead to formation the conditions of rice storage facilities, especially the
of reactive gas species in terms of ROS and RNS, temperature and humidity of rice grain storage
such as ozone, hydroxyl as well as aldehyde radicals (Atungulu et al, 2019). Insects that deteriorate rice
(Misra et al, 2019a). These ROS and RNS have been grain can be classified into primary and secondary
Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL, et al. Cold Plasma: Alternative for Rice Grain Treatment in Malaysia 5

insects (Wakil et al, 2010). Primary insect pests, et al, 2015), and 53% of pupal and 86% of larval
including rice weevil, angoumois grain moth and mortality led to the low emergence of adult Plodia
lesser grain borer, are considered more destructive due interpunctella (i.e., 46%) after the exposure to pulsed
to their penetration ability and larvae feed inside the plasma (Abd El-Aziz et al, 2014). In the early 2000s,
rice grain. Secondary insects, including saw-toothed the combination of vacuum plasma and high-frequency
grain beetle, rust red flour beetles, cadelle, flat grain electromagnetic field treatment achieved 100%
beetle, Indian meal moth, almond moth, rice moth, mortality of Sitophilus granarius with the treatment
corn sap beetle and psocids, only eat the rice grain duration of 10 s. S. granarius mortality is influenced
surface but still lead to rice grain loss in terms of by the treatment duration, and a longer treatment
quality and quantity (Atungulu et al, 2019). duration increases its mortality (Mishenko et al, 2000).
The optimal conditions for the insect life cycle Recent studies on insect pest control using cold
depend on the temperature and humidity of rice grain plasma exposure show the possibility of 100%
storage. The maximum development rate of the stored mortality of red flour beetles T. castaneum (Herbst) in
pests happens at temperature between 25 ºC to 33 ºC. all development stages from egg, larvae to adult
Storage temperature below 25 ºC eventually slows the phases, with optimized operational plasma of 2.5 kV
rate of development, and the development might cease for 15 min exposure (Ramanan et al, 2018). Besides,
at 17 ºC, while the increment of storage temperature more comprehensive study has been developed in
between 45 ºC to 50 ºC will kill those pests within evaluation of mortality of A. gossypii, B. tabaci, H.
several hours. Further increment of storage temperature armigera first instar larvae and H. armigera adult, T.
within 50 ºC to 60 ºC ZLOO GHILQLWHO\ OHDG WR SHVW¶V kanzawai and T. palmi using atmospheric pressure
mortality within several minutes. In terms of storage plasma jet. Long plasma exposure up to 21 min leads
humidity, the relative humidity of 70% with moisture to 100% mortality of B. tabaci and T. palmi, with only
content from 9% to 14% is the optimal condition for 6.3 and 9.6 min required for 50% mortality in both
their survival. Secondary insects favour the temperature insects, respectively. However, no mortality is
range of rice grain storage from 25 ºC to 35 ºC with a recorded for the rest of insects, as it might be due to
relative humidity of 75%, which are within the range different characteristics of intrinsic physiological
of favoured temperature and humidity conditions for systems (Kwon et al, 2019).
primary insects (Atungulu et al, 2019). Therefore, data
Enhancement of rice seed growth and yield
collection of favoured temperature and humidity
quantity through cold plasma technology
conditions of the insect life cycle is necessary and
required to help researchers to design an appropriate Recently, cold plasma has been utilised to improve the
rice grain storage system to reduce and, if possible, growth and yield quantity of rice plant seeds in a
achieve zero percent rice loss. Recent work might paddy field (Yodpitak et al, 2019; Zargarchi and
become a benchmark especially in data collection Saremnezhad, 2019; Hashizume et al, 2020). Table 1
involving equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and shows the recent compilation of field data on the
equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) from selected effect of cold plasma exposure on rice seed
milled rice, which eventually leads to useful mathematical germination and production. The effect of cold plasma
model for evaluation of isotherms properties as well exposure on rice seed leads to significant increase of
as allowable storage maximum moisture content, in panicle length, stem length, seedlings height, panicle
order to become the guideline for the safe storage of weight of main stem, panicle weight, as well as
rice (Chen et al, 2019). harvest index. Plasma source with 60 Hz and 9 kV is
Several studies have been conducted to demonstrate set with the assistance of argon gas at the flow rate of
the efficiency of cold plasma on insect pest mortality. 2 L/min. The cold plasma treatment was performed
However, most studies lack important details, such as for 30 s in the open air and 5 min at a distance of 15
the type of grain used, initial storage temperature and mm from the meristem (Hashizume et al, 2020).
initial storage moisture content. Besides, cold plasma Significant rice paddy germination rate was also
treatment has been significantly proven as an insect recorded, with the influence of plasma discharge
pest mortality medium. Mortality of 100% for power (Zargarchi and Saremnezhad, 2019). Besides,
Ephestia kuehniella and T. confusum was successfully optimized treatment parameters which lead to
achieved after plasma treatment for 20 s (Mohammadi significant increases of rice seedling height and
 6 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022

Table 1. Field data of cold plasma exposure on rice seed treatment.

Treated rice seed Cold plasma system parameter Significant finding Reference
Oryza sativa, cv. Setup: atmospheric-pressure plasma; Panicle length: control, 21 cm; after treatment, 23 cm Hashizume et al,
Aichinokaori Voltage: 9 kV; Frequency: 60 Hz; Stem length: control, 82.4 cm; after treatment, 86 cm 2020
Type of gas: Ar; Gas flowrate: 2 Seedling height: control, 103.5 cm; after treatment, 110 cm
L/min; Treatment time: 5 min (at Panicle weight of main stem: control, 2.9 g; after treatment, 4.4 g
distance of 15 mm from meristem) Panicle weight: control, 65 g; after treatment, 75 g
Harvest index: control, 50%; after treatment, 53%
Dried Hashemy Setup: low-pressure plasma reactor; Water uptake after 24 h soaking: control, 22.46%; 50 W, 26.43%; Zargarchi and
paddy rice, an Discharge power: 50 W, 100 W; 100 W, 29.45%. Water uptake after 48 h soaking: control, 26.73%; Saremnezhad, 2019
indica cultivar Pressure: 82 mtorr; Type of gas: 50 W, 29.85%; 100 W, 36.10%; Germination rate after 24 h
vacuum; Treatment time: 5 min soaking: control, 30%; 50 W, 65%; 100 W, 96%. Germination rate
after 48 h soaking: control, 30%; 50 W, 70%; 100 W, 98%
Germinated Setup: dielectric barrier discharge; Rice seedling height for 75 s plasma exposure and 24 mL/min: Yodpitak et al,
brown rice Discharge power: 100, 135, 170 and control, 12 mm; 100 W, 14.9 mm; 135 W, 18 mm; 170 W, 15.5 2019
200 W; Type of gas: Ar; Gas flowrate: mm; 200 W, 14 mm
18 to 24 mL/min; Treatment time: 25, Germination percentage for 75 s plasma exposure and 24 mL/min:
50, 75, 100, 150, 200 and 300 s control, 45%; 100 W, 62%; 135 W, 84%; 170 W, 62%; 200 W, 35%

germination percentage, such as treatment time, contributor to reduced hardness and increased
plasma discharge power and gas flowrate, are adhesiveness (Leelayuthsoontorn and Thipayarat,
identified (Yodpitak et al, 2019). Nevertheless, the 2006), whereas the leaching of starch components
results of significant growth of cold plasma-treated determines stickiness in terms of amylopectin and
rice plants have been explored and verified earlier in a amylose proportions (Ong and Blanshard, 1995).
pilot or laboratory scale (Khamsen et al, 2016; Compiled literature has witnessed significant ability
Amnuaysin et al, 2018). The significant growth of of cold plasma treatment in improvement of rice
cold plasma-treated rice plants compared to untreated cooking properties especially in terms of cooking
rice plants can be related to the mechanism of plasma duration as well as rice textural properties. However,
etching towards rice seedlings. The etching forms it is suggested that for future research, rice cooking
microcavity in rice seedlings, which eventually properties should be investigated to consider the effect
increases the rate of water imbibition and enhances the of rice storage duration (e.g., 1, 2 and 3 months),
growth rate of rice plants (Khamsen et al, 2016). which enable experts to evaluate the level of rice
The utilisation of cold plasma significantly improves safety and shelf-life after certain storage period.
rice cooking properties in terms of cooking duration In the perspective of nutritional and enzymatic
and textural properties (Chen et al, 2012; Thirumdas properties, significant changes in Ȗ-aminobutyric acid
et al, 2015). Cold plasma treatment successfully *$%$ DQG Į-amylase have been verified for cold
reduces the brown rice cooking duration from 24.8 plasma-treated brown rice (Chen et al, 2016; Lee et al,
min for a regular cooking duration to 17.2, 18.2 and 2016). The importance of GABA cannot be ignored as
18.8 min for cold plasma treatment of 1, 2 and 3 kV, the compound is crucial for the function in the human
respectively. The shorter rice cooking duration is brain, blood pressure and heart rate regulation, pain
contributed by the etching effect of cold plasma and anxiety alleviation, as well as it acts as a powerful
treatment that changes the rice grain morphological secretagogue of insulin from the pancreas (Adeghate
structure from compact bran surface into wide and and Ponery, 2002). A previous study demonstrates a
shallow bran surface. The treatment eventually forms significant increase of GABA content from approximately
microcavity on the rice grain surface, allowing 19 to 28 mg (in 3 kV cold plasma-treated brown rice)
enhanced water absorption during cooking (Chen et al, for 100 g brown rice (Chen et al, 2016). In addition,
2012). Other than cooking duration, there is a Į-amylase is considered a crucial industrial enzyme
significant change of basmati rice textural properties that hydrolyses polysaccharides, starch and glycogen
(e.g., hardness, stickiness and adhesiveness) when E\UDQGRPO\FOHDYLQJ LQWHUQDOĮ-1,4-glucosidic linkages
applying cold plasma. The hardness and stickiness to convert sugars from starch degradation (Lee et al,
decreases, but its adhesiveness increases slightly $VLJQLILFDQWLQFUHPHQWRIĮ-amylase activity is
(Thirumdas et al, 2015). Solid leaching from basmati recorded from 3.49 to 4.21, 3.99 and 3.90 U/g for 5,
rice grains has been identified as the primary 10 and 20 min of cold plasma treatment, respectively
Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL, et al. Cold Plasma: Alternative for Rice Grain Treatment in Malaysia 7

(Lee et al, 2016). However, the mechanism of the are also treated by the cold plasma setup of 20 kV
LQFUHPHQW RI *$%$ FRQWHQW DQG Į-amylase activity (Ochi et al, 2017). High intensity of input power of
after cold plasma treatment is not yet understood. 462 W is also applied to enhance rice seed germination
(Penado et al, 2018), while lower intensity of voltage
Cold plasma potential in rice grain
or power was applied to create changes in functional,
postharvest management
physicochemical and cooking properties of rice. A
Application of cold plasma technology may lead us to low-intensity level of the input power of 30, 40 and 50
more efficient postharvest management in terms of W is applied to reduce the amylase content, endothermic
microbial and mycotoxins inactivation, improvement enthalpies and percentage of crystallinity (Sarangapani
of physicochemical properties, as well as enhancement et al, 2016), and to improve the total phenolic content
of seed germination. Table 2 summarizes the application and absorption intensities (Thirumdas et al, 2016). A
of cold plasma technology on rice related treatment cold plasma system with a low-intensity discharge
purposes. voltage of 1±3 kV is applied to increase GABA and
total phenolic content (Chen et al, 2016), to reduce fat
Influenced treatment parameters DFLGLW\Į-amylase and lipoxygenase acidity (Chen et al,
Designing a cold plasma reactor is part of the 2015), and to decrease cooking time, cooking loss and
decontamination or inactivation of microbes in rice gelatinisation enthalpy (Chen, 2014). Cold plasma
grain storage facilities. Several parameters should be treatment at 120 W for 20 s significantly shortens the
carefully considered to ensure a high possibility of a cooking time, and decreases the rice hardness as well
working plasma treatment system. In this section, as improves the elasticity and adhesiveness of milled
three influenced treatment parameters (voltage and rice. However, the intensity increment of cold plasma
current, gas type and treatment time) are thoroughly treatment from 120 to 520 W leads to severe rice
described. kernel surface rupture (Liu et al, 2021). Therefore, it is
interesting to study the ideal range of applied voltage
Voltage and power and power for treatment, which can preserve the rice
An electrical field has a significant role in dissociating kernel morphology to ensure longer shelf-life for rice
oxygen molecules to form ozone through vigorous grain storage.
electron and ion bombardment (Pankaj et al, 2015).
This eventually results in the massive production of Gas type
ozone from the chemical reaction of oxygen free In designing a cold plasma reactor system, the
radicals with diatomic oxygen that contributes to selection of carrier gas is crucial as the gas properties
etching, which ultimately disperses the cell membrane influence the chemical reaction produced. Most of the
of microbes and causes possible changes in physico- previous researchers tend to choose atmospheric air as
chemical and cooking properties (Thirumdas et al, the carrier gas in their customised cold plasma treatment
2015; Muhammad et al, 2018). However, the breakdown systems, especially in the inactivation of foodborne
of O±O bond requires high energy to exceed the pathogens (Lee et al, 2016, 2018), treatment of
respective breakdown voltage; thus, the use of a seedborne rice seedling bacterial diseases (Ochi et al,
high-voltage power source is required (Morgan, 2009). 2017), rice seed germination (Penado et al, 2018) and
According to the literature, the level of intensity of improvement of functional, physicochemical and
voltage or power input depends on a particular cooking properties of rice (Chen, 2014; Chen et al,
application. In microbial inactivation and decontamination, 2015, 2016; Sarangapani et al, 2015, 2016; Thirumdas
high intensity of input voltage or power is used. For et al, 2017). Atmospheric air contains ozone, oxygen
example, high-intensity plasma treatment of 250 W is and reactive species produced during cold plasma
utilized to inactivate foodborne pathogens, such as E. generation. The presence of oxygen is very important
coli, B. cereus and B. subtilis (Lee et al, 2016, 2018). to generate ROS with strong binding energy (e.g.,
Moreover, mycotoxins produced by Fusarium, peroxides and ozone), resulting in effective microbial
Aspergillus and A. alternata are degraded using the inactivation (Shi et al, 2017). The binding energy from
input voltage of 38 kV and the input power of 500 W these reactive species contributes to the deterioration
(Ten Bosch et al, 2017). Seedborne rice seedling of cell membrane in terms of cell apoptosis, cell
bacterial diseases (e.g., F. fujikuroi and B. plantarii) leakage, mycelial tips deformation, degradation of cellular
8 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022
Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL, et al. Cold Plasma: Alternative for Rice Grain Treatment in Malaysia 9
10 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022

protein, loss of permeability, and also fragmentation decomposition.

and DNA release (Liao et al, 2017; Misra et al, 2019a).
However, the major challenge in utilising atmospheric Grain capacity
air is its low ionisation potential, which requires a Since conducted in laboratory scale, most of treatment
higher voltage to dissociate diatomic molecules; thus, setups are designed based on limited scale of grain
the use of a voltage power source with high intensity capacity, ranging from 3 to 20 g (Misnal et al, 2021).
for plasma generation is justified (Morgan, 2009). As The arising issue is to upgrade the treatment systeP¶V
an alternative to air, gases which are much easier to ability from small scale to large scale grain capacity in
ionise is chosen, such as argon (Khamsen et al, 2016; order to fulfil the industrial demand. However, first
Yodpitak et al, 2019). However, the use of argon things first, one should understand the nature of cold
might incur higher operational costs as argon is more plasma discharge, as different input parameters or
expensive (Niemira, 2012; Muhammad et al, 2018). setup produced different discharge characteristics
(Vaideki, 2016). Basically, cold plasma discharge can
Treatment time be categorized into glow discharge, atmospheric
Treatment time is among the most studied parameters pressure plasma discharge, corona discharge and DBD.
in cold plasma treatment for rice-related research, Glow discharge is usually initiated by radio frequency
especially for the past five years. The increase of (40 kHz, 13.45 MHz), low frequency (50 Hz) and
treatment time significantly influences the cold plasma direct current. This is a low-pressure plasma technique
treatment effectiveness in the decontamination of which easily generates uniform cold plasma discharge
foodborne pathogens (e.g., E. coli, B. cereus and B. area coverage. For atmospheric pressure plasma
subtilis) (Lee et al, 2016, 2018), degradation of discharge, the setup normally consists of combination
mycotoxins produced by Fusarium, Aspergillus and A. of high flow rate of inert gases (such as He and Ar)
alternata (Ten Bosch et al, 2017), enhancement of rice with additives (such as O2 and H2O) to generate
seed germination (Yodpitak et al, 2019) and highest possible plasma density discharge. Corona
improvement of physicochemical and functional discharge is generated by applied low frequency or
properties (Sarangapani et al, 2016). Based on the high voltage over an electrode pair in atmospheric
existing literature, the range of treatment time can be pressure condition. The produced discharge will be in
categorised according to treatment purposes. For small lightning form which is definitely non-uniform
example, treatment time of 5 to 20 min is applied for and localized plasma discharge. DBD is generated by
the inactivation of foodborne pathogens (Lee et al, applying high voltage over an electrode pair (at least
2016, 2018), whereas seedborne rice seedling bacterial one of electrode being insulated by dielectric material).
diseases are treated with plasma exposure for 10 min DBD can be considered as the combined characteristics
(Ochi et al, 2017). The treatment time range between of corona discharge with glow discharge, as the
5 and 30 min is applied on the tested rice samples to produced discharge still in lightning form, but the
improve physicochemical, functional, storage and presence of dielectric material prevents the arcing,
cooking properties (Chen, 2014; Chen et al, 2015, thus improving plasma discharge uniformity and stability.
2016; Sarangapani et al, 2016). In rice seed In the aspect of rice grain postharvest treatment
germination, the treatment time applied is capped at 5 management, different nature of plasma discharge
min, ranging from 25 to 300 s (Khamsen et al, 2016; may be set according to different stages of treatment.
Yodpitak et al, 2019). The treatment time is capped at For example, DBD may be applied for rice seed
1 min, ranging from 5 to 60 s, to degrade mycotoxins germination and rice grain drying stages, especially in
extracted from rice cultures (Ten Bosch et al, 2017). larger capacity since DBD possess high discharge
Therefore, the selection of treatment time range intensity with improved uniformity and stability.
depends on treatment purposes. A longer treatment Atmospheric pressure plasma discharge setup can be
time (5 to 30 min) is suitable for the inactivation or considered for microbial and bacterial inactivation,
decontamination of microbes and bacteria, as well as due to the presence of RNS and ROS, which play a
for any treatments to improve or enhance the significant role to deteriorate the microbial and
physicochemical, functional, storage and cooking bacterial cells. Post-treatment process may be initiated
properties, whereas a shorter treatment time (below 5 by low-pressure plasma (glow discharge) to improve
min) is preferred for seed germination purposes and appearance, grading as well as textural properties of
any applications involving chemical degradation and rice grains. However, realistically speaking, the
Mohd Fadthul Ikmal MISNAL, et al. Cold Plasma: Alternative for Rice Grain Treatment in Malaysia 11

treatment process involving larger capacity of rice of gas mixtures and operating flow rates, without
grains eventually requires multiple plasma sources or effecting the production of reactive species especially
reactors, in order to ensure discharge uniformity in in larger scale treatment process. (3) Use of microplasma
higher volumetric capacity samples. arrays, in order to ensure stable discharges at
atmospheric pressure (Boettner et al, 2010). (4) Use of
Food safety aspects
surface or coplanar dielectric barrier discharge concept,
Globally, the food treatment using cold plasma due to its compatibility with scale-up (Brandenburg,
technology can be considered as under regulatory 2017). (5) Installation of sealed enclosure (tunnel,
review in order to ensure human safety, long term package or containment reactor), in order to ensure
food sustainability and food ecosafety. For example, retention of reactive species (Ziuzina et al, 2016). (6)
in United States, the claim of effectiveness of DBD Frequency of plasma dosage or plasma intensity, in
plasma treatment in terms of reduced spoilage requires order to at least maintain the nutritional content in
specific experimentation, data analysis and post data treated food.
analysis to be present during initial pre-paperwork Several attempts have been made to scale up the
regulatory meeting. Involvement of regulatory bodies cold plasma treatment system in certain applications,
such as United States Department of Agriculture, such as the decontamination of cherry tomatoes by
Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug integrating cold plasma technology with in-package
Administration are necessary for review and approval convey or belt (Ziuzina et al, 2016) and in grain
purpose in terms of regulatory oversight, as well as treatment by integrating the design of drive belt with a
evaluation of new technology effectiveness (Bourke helical dielectric barrier and mesh ground electrode
et al, 2018). Same regulation is also applied in Canada, (Scally et al, 2018). The idea of grain augers has also
as cold plasma technology evaluation by Canadian been proposed, which are designed as an enclosed
Food Inspection Agency is decided based on accurate, treatment reactor in form of a tube fitted with a spiral
high-quality and science-based research (Varilla et al, shaft (Kaur et al, 2020).
2020). Recent publications started to emphasize on However, as most researchers are preparing for the
specific experimentation and data analysis on food direction of technology scale-up for industrial
safety in terms of inactivation of bacterial food borne commercialisation, the challenges in treatment
diseases (Thomas-Popo et al, 2019), microbial parameters should not be neglected. In an industrial
decontamination (Los et al, 2020), fungal decontamination scale, the use of higher voltages might be required
(Ott et al, 2021) and heavy metal contamination and (possible to reach 130 kV) to maintain plasma
health risk assessment (Román-Ochoa et al, 2021) in uniformity for treating higher volumes of rice grains
order to fulfil the future requirement of cold plasma (Cullen et al, 2018). Furthermore, when dealing with
technology approval set by the corresponding higher volumes of rice grains, the treatment time range
regulatory authorities. needs to be re-evaluated to determine the highest
possible treatment efficiency; thus, the systematic
Cold plasma technology scaling up and operational cost might be affected (Feizollahi et al,
commercialization challenges 2020). Therefore, the optimization of influenced
As most of the research and development regarding parameters with a scaled-up system should be
cold plasma treatment in the rice-related industry is considered for future research direction.
only limited to laboratory-scale size, the demand for
Potential applications of cold plasma
scaling up the system is required to fulfil industrial
technology in Malaysian rice industry
needs. An overview on how the cold plasma
technology being translated from laboratory scale to In Malaysia, the challenges of rice grain postharvest
industrial scale has been highlighted and may become management include global warming, hot and humid
the benchmark for any scaling up and commercialization climate, inconsistency in the implementation of
attempts (Cullen et al, 2018). Several approaches operating parameters, and the overuse of pesticides,
should be taken into consideration: (1) The use of herbicides and fertilizers. These issues eventually
multiple plasma sources or reactors, in order to ensure contributed to significant air, water and soil pollution,
discharge uniformity in higher volumetric capacity greenhouse gas emissions and rice grain loss in terms
samples (Furmanski et al, 2011). (2) Appropriate ratio of quantity and quality. Cold plasma can be a
12 Rice Science, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022

microbial decontamination medium, an insect pest Chemistry and Technology. Woodhead Publishing and AACC
mortality medium and also an enhancer of functional, International Press: 517௅555.
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quantity and quality of rice grain, it should be
Bourke P, Ziuzina D, Boehm D, Cullen P J, Keener K. 2018. The
considered in the Malaysian rice industry. In future potential of cold plasma for safe and sustainable food production.
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on rice grain storage quality, especially to overcome filaments. Plasma Sources Sci Technol, 26(5): 053001.
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content (e.g. total bacterial count, as well as growth of rice treated by low-pressure plasma. Food Bioprocess Technol,
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS brown rice. Food Bioprocess Technol, 8(2): 471௅477.
Chen H H, Chang H C, Chen Y K, Hung C L, Lin S Y, Chen Y S.
The authors thank Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 2016. An improved process for high nutrition of germinated
Zamalah Scholarship and Universiti Teknologi brown rice production: Low-pressure plasma. Food Chem, 191:
Malaysia School of Graduate Studies for the financial 120௅127.
support. Chen Z T, Wang R L, Li X J, Zhu J, Xu Y N, Liu J J. 2019.
Sorption equilibrium moisture and isosteric heat of cold plasma
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