Cold plasma treatment as a non-thermal strategy to enhance chickpea flour for plant-based foods

Plasma is a medium of free positive and negative particles that is overall electrically neutral. Non-thermal plasma has emerged as a sustainable technology in food processing, with potential to improve quality and microbial safety. As starch is a major food component, there is growing interest in using plasma to tailor its functionality through interactions with reactive species. This study examined the effect of short cold plasma treatments (5 and 10 s), applied at a fixed distance of 4 cm from the plasma source using the Blown Arc™ system, on the thermal, structural, and pasting properties of chickpea flour. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to assess starch gelatinization, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to evaluate short- range structural changes, and rheology was performed with a controlled-strain under temperature sweep conditions. The aim was to explore cold plasma as a green, non-thermal modification method for chickpea flour in plant-based (Pb) applications. During heating, both elastic (G′) and viscous (G″) moduli increased above ~95 °C, consistent with starch gelatinization. Plasma altered this response: the 5 s treatment reduced G′ and G″ relative to the control, while the 10 s treatment increased them, suggesting stronger gel formation. ATR-FTIR spectra showed no visible differences among samples, and band-ratio analysis (1047/1022, 1022/995 cm⁻¹) indicated only minor variations, implying no significant changes in short-range molecular order. DSC revealed higher onset, peak, and end set gelatinization temperatures in plasma-treated flours, indicating greater thermal stability and delayed gelatinization. In conclusion, cold plasma modified the thermo-rheological behavior of chickpea flour without major structural disruption, highlighting its potential as a sustainable tool to enhance functionality in Pb systems.