Anti-Listeria innocua activity of silver functionalised textile prepared with plasma technology

Thin layers of silver particles (10–100 Å) were deposited by plasma technology on textiles mainly composed with cotton or polyester in order to obtain antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial activity against a Listeria innocua strain (LRGIA 01) of these textiles was assessed following a protocol based on the ISO 20743-2005 standard. The number of cultivable bacteria on textiles was then monitored for 24 h. The microbial population after 24 h at 30 °C attained 107 CFU g−1 on control textiles while it did not exceed 103 CFU g−1 on plasma-treated textile. All plasma-treated with silver textiles were anti-Listeria (up to 7 log CFU g−1 decimal reductions of L. innocua populations) and this observation was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. These textiles could thus have potential applications in food-processing industry to control cross-contaminations by L. monocytogenes.