Abstract:With the aim to clarify the effect of plasma treatment on the storage quality of Tibetan sheep meat, the hind legs meat of Tibetan sheep was selected as the material. After plasma treatment for different times (0min,2min,3min,4min), the meat samples were stored in a refrigerator at 4℃ for 0d,1d,3d,5d,7d. The total number of colonies, pH value, color, texture, cooking loss, TBARS value and carbonyl content were measured at different storage time points.The results showed that on the 7d of storage, the total number of colonies in the Tibetan sheep group with plasma treatment time of 2min,3min and 4min was 18.56%, 23.08% and 27.09% lower than that of the control group.The pH values were 1.53%, 2.21% and 1.02% lower than those of the control group.The a* values were 4.44%,11.71% and 21.62% lower than those of the control group. The hardness values were 5.79%,26.18% and 26.43% lower than those of the control group.The cooking loss was 1.66 percentage points,5.26 percentage points and 2.71 percentage points lower than that of the control group, respectively (P<0.05). In addition, the TBARS content of Tibetan sheep group with plasma treatment time of 2min and 3min was 1.89% and 13.21% lower than that of the control group, respectively, and the carbonyl content was 11.33% and 13.33% lower than that of the control group, respectively. The TBARS content of Tibetan sheep group with plasma treatment time of 4min was 13.21% higher than that of the control group, and the carbonyl content was 13.33% higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). It can be seen that plasma treatment can effectively reduce the total number of colonies in Tibetan sheep and improve tenderness and water holding capacity. However, long-term treatment had a negative impact on meat color.On the whole, when the plasma treatment time was 3min, the total number of colonies of Tibetan sheep was decreased significantly, the tenderness and water holding capacity were increased, and the oxidation of lipid and protein was delayed. The research result can provide a theoretical basis for the improvement of the quality of mutton during storage by atmospheric plasma technology.