The effect of plasma-activated ice slurry with both pre-cooling and antifungal activity on postharvest sweet cherry fruit

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is harvested at high temperatures; it has high respiratory metabolism and is susceptible to microbial infestation, making the fruit prone to postharvest decay and deterioration. In this study, plasma-activated ice slurry (PAIS) with a pre-cooling and antifungal effect was prepared for the first time and applied to sweet cherry preservation. Within 0.5 h, the core temperature of the sweet cherry fruit pre-cooled with the ice slurry was 6.1 °C, which was significantly lower than that of the fruit pre-cooled with an ice water mixture (10.9 °C). During storage, the PAIS treatment significantly reduced the decay rate of the sweet cherry fruit. At the end of the storage period, the decay rate of the control group was as high as 66.7%, whereas the decay rate of the PAIS-treated sweet cherry fruit was 25.3%. Moreover, the PAIS treatment effectively inactivated the fungus on the surface of the sweet cherry fruit, and the fungus was not detected until the 13th day of storage (at which time, the fungal load on the surface of the control was 3.6 log10CFU g−1). Metabonomic analysis showed that the PAIS increased the content of antioxidant components and enhanced the antioxidant activity of the sweet cherry fruit. The above results demonstrate the potential of PAIS as a green and efficient tool when applied to sweet cherry fruit preservation. [Display omitted] •Ice slurry provided superior pre-cooling effect than ice and water mixtures.•Plasma-activated ice slurry (PAIS) with pre-cooling and antifungal effect was prepared.•The PAIS significantly reduced the decay rate and fungal loads of sweet cherry fruit.•The PAIS boosted enzyme activities related to defense and in phenylpropanoid pathway.•PAIS-treated sweet cherry fruit showed increased content of antioxidant compounds.