WRI Webinar – Melanie Ford

This webinar series showcases the excellent science our members, affiliates and collaborators are undertaking across the agriculture, food and wine sectors. Expand your network and find new collaborators!

Everyone is welcome – webinars are generally scheduled at 10am on Thursdays, with some exceptions. Registration is required.

Melanie Ford  – Evaluating the efficacy of plasma treatment on postharvest grains

PhD student, School of AFW, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity and SARDI Plant Health and Biosecurity

Abstract: Fungal contamination of food commodities, such as grain, often results in the loss or wastage of food products and poses a risk to human and animal health worldwide. Current methods for removing fungal contaminants from grain are often ineffective or may leave behind residues with downstream implications for consumers. This study explores the use of plasma, the fourth state of matter, to remove fungal pathogens on postharvest grains. Maize, wheat, barley, field pea and psyllium were selected for their economic importance and differing surface chemistries. Each type of grain was inoculated with an associated pathogen and exposed to a time series of plasma treatments. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of plasma treatment, as well as changes to grain surface chemistry and seed morphology. In summary, this research presents a novel use of scalable plasma technology for agricultural applications benefiting food production with possible applications for import/export biosecurity and fighting food waste.