Production of restructured beef jerky using blood plasma solutions activated by non-thermal atmospheric plasma

The effect of blood plasma powder (2.5, 5, and 7.5% w/w in water) activated using non-thermal atmospheric plasma (T1, T2, and T3, respectively) was investigated as a nitrite source in the production of restructured beef jerky. A group without a nitrite source (NC) and a group cured with 100 ppm of sodium nitrite (PC) were used as negative control and positive control groups, respectively. The nitrite content of the plasma-activated solutions was adjusted to match that of the positive control by calculating the required plasma treatment time, based on previous studies. The obtained results showed that addition of treated solutions with nonthermal plasma for a 70 min, at a level of 20% in relation to the meat, can have beneficial effects on nitrosylhemochrome content, redness, and TBARS values of restructured jerky. These effects were statistically comparable (p≥0.05) to sodium nitrite-cured samples. Furthermore, compared to the PC group, the T1, T2, and T3 treatments exhibited significantly lower water activity and higher protein content (p<0.05). The T2 and T3 treatments also showed increased lightness and shear force values (p<0.05) compared to the control groups (NC and PC). It should be noted that the T3 group had the highest (p<0.05) residual nitrite content among all the samples. However, a sensory analysis is necessary to assess consumer acceptance with regard to differences in the odor profile of the treatments, according to the Principal Components Analysis (PCA).