This study evaluates the impact of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma pretreatment (5,10, and 15 min) on morphological characteristics, chemical structure, color, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity of clove. Scanning electron microscopy analysis displayed that cold plasma caused substantial rupturing in the microstructure of the samples, which may facilitate the release of phenolic compounds. FT-IR results showed that cold plasma did not produce new functional groups. 10 min-DBD plasma groups exhibited significantly higher phenolic extraction yields and organic radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) than the untreated sample. The color parameters change after DBD plasma pretreatment is probably related to the oxidation reactions initiated by the reactive species. The results suggest that free radicals and reactive species generated during the plasma process could disrupt the cell wall structure of clove and promote extraction yield. Cold plasma possesses great potential as an effective processing technology for the extraction of bioactive compounds.
