Inactivation of Yeast Cells Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Conventional sterilization methods pose certain disadvantages such as long exposure times, deposition of dangerous residues on objects being sterilized and limited versatility. Prior literature has proved that plasma sterilization trumps these conventional methods in terms of exposure time, operating temperature, versatility and safety. This paper focuses primarily on investigative efforts spent in trying to understand the underlying mechanisms involved in the sterilizing effect of plasma on yeast. Samples of yeast cells were exposed to RF induced Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma. While complete sterilization was noted within 60-120s, it was also seen that the sterilization process was affected by factors such as dielectric material and number of sterilization cycles.