In recent years, non-thermal plasma (NTP) has emerged as a promising tool for decontamination and disinfection within the food industry. Given the increasing resistance of microbial biofilms to conventional disinfectants and their adverse environmental effects, this method has significant potential for eliminating biofilm formation or mitigating the metabolic activity of grown biofilms. A comparative study was conducted evaluating the efficacy of UV radiation and NTP in eradicating mature biofilms of four common foodborne filamentous fungal contaminants: Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium culmorum, and Fusarium graminearum. The findings reveal that while UV radiation exhibits variable efficacy depending on the duration of exposure and fungal species, NTP induces substantial morphological alterations in biofilms, disrupting hyphae, and reducing extracellular polymeric substance production, particularly in A. alternata and F. culmorum. Notably, scanning electron microscopy analysis demonstrates significant disruption of the hyphae in NTP-treated biofilms, indicating its ability to penetrate the biofilm matrix, which is a promising outcome for biofilm eradication strategies. The use of NTP could offer a more environmentally friendly and potentially more effective alternative to traditional disinfection methods.

Department of Biotechnology University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Material Analysis Research Centre Rez Hlavní 130 250 68 Husinec Řež Czech Republic

Department of Physics and Measurements Prague University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Biomedical Engineering Czech Technical University Prague nám Sítná 3105 272 01 Kladno Czech Republic

Research Institute of Brewing and Malting Lípová 15 120 44 Prague Czech Republic

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