## 4 Discussion
[23] reported that _Salmonella_ Typhimurium was not detected as a result of treating sewage with an FE-DBD (10 kHz, 18 kV, 3 slm) treatment of sewage for 10 min. The operating conditions of the FE-DBD treatment were set higher than in this study, and the microbial reduction effect depends on the operating conditions of the FE-DBD plasma. FE-DBD plasma is an eco-friendly technology that is applied to various fields such as skin treatment and food because it does not cause environmental problems such as the release of mercury and other wastes like radiation treatment, and it does not release harmful components to the human body [24; 25]. Given these advantages, many studies have reported the microbial sterilization effect of DBD plasma on food. However, further research is needed on the antimicrobial activity of FE-DBD plasma. [PERSON] et al. [26] reported that, when chub mackerel was treated with atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) at an optimal voltage (60 kV), the total viable count decreased by 3.15 log CFU/g in 60 s. In addition, ACP treatment is a potential and promising alternative to seafood conservation technology. According to [PERSON] et al. [27], microorganisms were reduced after the exposure of L. sativa seeds to FE-DBD plasma. Moreover, no bacteria were detected after 40 min of treatment; the FE-DBD plasma treatment effectively controlled the microorganisms. [PERSON] et al. [12] reported that human norovirus in _Jogaejotgal_ (a Korean traditional fermented food) decreased as processing time increased after FE-DBD plasma treatment, and it decreased the most after 30 min to about 1-1.30 log\({}_{10}\) CFU/g. However, in this experiment, _S. aureus_ and _S. Typhimurium were reduced by about 1.13 log\({}_{10}\) CFU/g when treated for 30 min. Both the aforementioned studies showed a greater decrease than this study. Fish paste is made by mixing fish meat with a small amount of salt and other ingredients, such as starch, in a meaty paste. After the formation process, it is gelled via steaming, boiling, baking, or frying [28]. Therefore, the bacterial reduction may be decreased because it has a harder structure than _Jogaejotgal_. Additionally, plasma treatment can affect the inhibitory effect differently depending on several factors, such as the species of microorganisms, the injected gas type, the exposure type, and the cell layer number in the sample [29]. Floating electrode-dielectric barrier discharge plasma breaks covalent bonds with cations, anions, electrons, and ultraviolet (UV) photons; it is brought into contact with chemically activated species, resulting in microbial sterilization. Among several active species, active oxygen species such as oxygen radicals can affect cells by reacting with various macromolecules [29; 30]. Active species cause the formation of unsaturated fatty acids and peroxides, which damage the lipids and proteins in the cell membranes of microorganisms and sterilize them while spreading into cells. The active species (ROS and RNS) generated by plasma can create air pollutants that are harmful to humans [8; 31]. However, [PERSON] et al. [32] reported that the duration of a plasma treatment did not exceed the permissible exposure, so the risk from plasma treatment is expected to be low. Mathematical models such as the first-order kinetics and Weibull models improve food safety by predicting the survival characteristics of pathogenic microorganisms. Reduction kinetics modeling is useful for assessing the risk of quantitative microorganisms [33]. First-order kinetics is utilized to determine inactivation data such as D-values and is based on linear microbial survival curves [34; 35]. However, microbial survival curves may not always be linear; hence, the Weibull model was applied in this study to determine D-values based on nonlinear microbial survival curves [34; 36]. As the R\({}^{2}\) values of _S. aureus_ and _S._ Typhimurium in fried fish paste after using FE-DBD plasma were close to one, two models were utilized to determine the most appropriate survival curve model. In the case of _S.