Cold Plasma Induced Lipid Remodeling in Meat: Identifying an Oxidative Threshold Through Integrated Lipid Oxidation and Lipidomics Analysis
摘要
Cold plasma is a promising nonthermal technology for meat preservation, but the effects on lipid stability at the conventional and molecular levels remain incompletely understood. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of cold plasma treatment on lipid oxidation, free fatty acid (FFA) formation, and lipidomic profiles in beef and chicken. Meat slices were treated at 9 W and 15 kV for 1.5–10 min. Lipid oxidation was measured using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), FFA content was determined by titration, and exploratory untargeted lipidomics was performed using UHPLC–HRMS. The results indicated a nonlinear response of lipid oxidation to plasma exposure in both meat types. Beef exhibited greater TBARS accumulation during prolonged cold plasma treatment, whereas chicken showed comparatively lower oxidation responses, which may be associated with differences in lipid composition and endogenous antioxidant capacity. Moderate plasma exposure (3–5 min) was associated with relatively favorable lipid stability, whereas prolonged exposure (7–10 min) promoted oxidative degradation. Exploratory lipidomic analysis suggested a decrease in membrane phospholipids accompanied by an increase in lysophospholipids following prolonged plasma treatment. In conclusion, moderate cold plasma exposure (3–5 min) was associated with relatively favorable lipid stability under the experimental conditions evaluated. Taken together, these findings contribute to the current understanding of plasma-induced lipid remodeling in meat and provide a foundation for future studies incorporating larger biological datasets and complementary quality assessments.