Nanosized Chitosan and Plasma-Activated Water: Improving the Microbiological and Physicochemical Properties of Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Bean Sprouts

Standard raw materials for growing sprouts are alfalfa, broccoli, mung bean, and radish sprouts. The research uses vetch (Vicia sativa L.) beans, which have small seeds (45– 60 g per 1000 seeds) and are suitable for replacing standard raw materials. Bean sprouts have high nutritional value and are beneficial for human health. However, the germination of bean sprouts is associated with large losses of seed material due to salt stress, and the sprouts themselves have a short shelf life because the growing conditions contribute to their contamination by microorganisms. The results of this study showed that nanosized chitosan significantly reduces the effect of salt stress on the germination of vetch (Vicia sativa L.) bean sprouts, and plasma-activated water reduces the number of microbes on the vetch bean sprouts. Nanochitosan has played an important role as a potential priming agent used in Solid Matrix Priming on saline soils. Nanochitosan has been shown to improve germination and stress resistance caused by soil salinity. Cleaning with plasma-activated water can effectively deactivate bacteria, yeast, and mold on vetch bean sprouts in a time-dependent manner. The combination of plasma-activated water and priming agents (nanochitosan) showed an effective result, which increased the physicochemical parameters of vetch bean sprouts and reduced the number of plasma- activated water treatments to significantly reduce microbiological activity on vetch bean sprouts. Nanochitosan priming and plasma-activated water increased yield and the possibility of efficient cultivation at high salinity, improved microbiological indicators and increased protein content in 92.7% of vetch bean sprouts at maximum salinity (8dS/m). For nutrition, vetch bean sprouts can be used both fresh and dried. The vetch sprouts obtained with the use of nanochitosan and plasma-activated water are suitable for the production of diet and dried food according to their quality and microbiological indicators, which should be the focus of further research.