This study is done to evaluate a dry sterilization method of plant pathogens on the citrus during storage. Cold plasma technique based on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) technology was used for plasma actuating. Citrus was stored both cold (5℃, 90%RH) and ambient (18℃, 50%RH) store and analyzed for 3 weeks. Treatment (N=24) and control samples (N=48) were randomly divided for each group. The specification of the DBD plasma actuator is as follows: input voltage is 130 V, current is 0.3 A, flow rate is 15L/min, actuator operation time is 5 seconds (ON), and break time is 30 minutes (OFF). Concentration of ozone was 1.0~3.7 ppm and nitrogen dioxide was 0.5~2.5 ppm. Sterilized air was circularized by a diaphragm pump through a transparent Teflon pipe connected to the chamber and the actuator. Every 3~4 days, the selected samples were rinsed and then inoculated with potato dextrose agar (PDA) for 5 days. Cell number was counted by hemocytometer. Physical properties such as weight, color, soluble solid contents (SSC) and rigidity of peel were measured and compared during storage. Color and rigidity was measured four spots through equator of fruits.

• Jong Ryul Park(Department of Agricultural Engineering, National Institute of Agricultural Science, RDA)
• Hoeman Park(Department of Agricultural Engineering, National Institute of Agricultural Science, RDA)
• Youngwook Seo(Department of Agricultural Engineering, National Institute of Agricultural Science, RDA)