The Centre for Plasma in Agrifood – AgriPlas is a dedicated research facility within the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS), Queen’s University Belfast. It builds on existing expertise in plasma knowledge at the IGFS and involves a multidisciplinary team of physicists, pharmacists, animal health experts, feed and food safety experts and analytical chemists. Cold plasma research, particularly in the agrifood space, is still a relatively young field and is being increasingly seen as a potentially revolutionary ‘wonder technology’. AgriPlas is believed to be the first of its kind, dedicated to focused research on agrifood, agriculture and veterinary scenarios.

Applications of cold plasma for the food industry

Because of their potential to reduce, or in some scenarios even supplant, the use of antibiotics, plasmas could be key in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It also makes them ideally suited to applications in farm animal healthcare and biosecurity, feed safety, and food shelf-life extension. Scaled-down plasma technology could be available for use outside of laboratories by food producers and processors within a few years.

It is anticipated that, by leading to reduced use of chemicals and antibiotics in food-production systems, the technology should ultimately enhance the sustainability and global marketability of the UK agrifood industry.

Impact

Cutting-edge technology offering the potential to transform commercial food production – reducing harmful chemicals and antibiotics in the food chain and lessening the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Supporting the Grand Challenges facing livestock food production:

Food Safety, Quality & Integrity