Antiviral Efficacy of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma against Hepatitis A Virus in Fresh Oyster Using PMA/RT-qPCR

Abstract

The hepatitis A virus (HAV), which can be a threat to humans, can be found in oysters. Oysters need sterilization technology that does not cause quality changes because they are eaten raw. Therefore, in this study, antiviral effects and quality changes were conducted using dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBDP). Total titers of non-PMA- and PMA-treated suspensions of HAV were reduced to 0.20–1.05 and 0.35–1.49 log10 copies/μL, respectively, after DBDP 10–60 min treatment. HAV titers on oysters were reduced to 0.20–1.11 and 0.33–1.33 log10 copies/μL, respectively, after identical an DBDP treatment of the non-PMA- and PMA-treated oysters. The HAV titers were revealed as 0.295 (=[0.25 for 30 min + 0.34 for 60 min]/2) and 0.22 (for 60 min) log10-reduction in PMA-treated suspensions and oysters, respectively, compared with the non-PMA-treated suspensions and oysters. The D1 of DBDP in PMA-treated suspensions and oysters were 39.99 and 46.73 min, respectively. There was no difference in the pH of oysters after DBDP treatment compared to the non-treated control. There were some changes in the hardness of the DBDP-treated oysters, which was due to oyster individual differences rather than the DBDP treatment. In conclusion, DBDP treatment did not affect oyster quality and PMA was able to distinguish HAV infectivity. © 2023 by the authors.