## 3 Results and Discussion
However, due to the UV-absorbing abilities of the outer structures of the spores, the DNA of bacterial spores is not degraded but only partially fragmented [51]. According to [PERSON] et al. [52], proteins associated with bacterial germination, which are inactivated \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Environmental**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Faecal Contaminants**} \\ \cline{2-11}
**Sample** & **THMC** & **TSt** & **TStr** & **TYMC** & **LAB** & **THPC** & **TCBac** & **TMMC** & **TEb** & **Ec** & **TEcc** \\ \hline \multicolumn{11}{c}{**log cfu/g**} \\ \hline Air & 0.72 & 0.61 & 0.54 & 0.91 & 0.16 a & 0.73 & 0.76 & 0.45 & 0.68 a & 0.64 & 0.79 \\ Nitrogen & 1.19 & 0.78 & 0.65 & 0.62 & 0.56 & 1.09 & 0.53 & 0.49 & 1.14 & 0.88 & 0.75 \\ Oxygen & 1.02 & 0.73 & 0.75 & 0.92 & 0.88 b & 1.24 & 0.81 & 0.45 & 1.16 b & 0.96 & 0.74 \\ \hline SEM & 0.127 & 0.149 & 0.158 & 0.174 & 0.084 & 0.124 & 0.369 & 0.681 & 0.079 & 0.079 & 0.019 \\ \(p\)-value & 0.101 & 0.122 & 0.326 & 0.094 & 0.032 & 0.701 & 0.112 & 0.843 & 0.043 & 0.133 & 0.052 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: The level of microorganisms’ reduction after plasma-induced freeze-dried colostrum samples. under the influence of plasma-generated components, are of greater importance in the process of inactivating spores. One of the factors regulating changes in the colostrum is pH value. Any drastic change can affect undesirable changes in its taste, texture, odour, or shelf life. Despite differences in the colour parameters of the control samples used in our study, their pH was not affected and was determined within the range (6.61-6.71). The plasma processes, regardless of the gas used, did not affect pH changes (Table 4). Such an insignificant effect of plasma treatment on pH was also observed in other studies [53; 54; 55]. Reactive plasma radicals react only with surface water in solid and dry products, forming acidic ions or acids in limited amounts (depending on the working gas used). The observed changes in pH and acidity depend on the matrix type and usually apply to liquid environments [56; 57]. Colostrum colour is considered one of the parameters indicating its quality. A paler colour is associated with a lower quality in terms of overall composition compared to more yellowish and darker colours [58]. Significant differences (at \(p\leq 0.05\)) between the tested colostrum samples were already established in preliminary tests (Table 4). Depending on their origin (batch), they were characterized by a different colour profile. This was indicated by the ranges of marked colour attributes, i.e., brightness (L: 82.357-83.403), saturations (C: 17.180-19.474) and hue (h: 82.84-84.534). The plasma process carried out solely with nitrogen contributed to the statistically significant increase in the C parameter. In addition, lower values of L* (81.49) were recorded, with a simultaneous slight increase in b* (19.64) and reduction in a* (\(-\)2.04) compared to the untreated CP sample (Table 4). The cumulative effect of the colour parameters: brightness, redness/greenness (a*) and yellowness/blueness (b*) determines the total colour difference (\(\Delta\)E) of the samples tested. It was found that using air and oxygen as working gases in the plasma process had no significant effect on the colour change of the colostrum samples (\(\Delta\)E \(\leq\) 1.5), obtaining \(\Delta\)E values of 0.82 and 1.04, respectively. In the experiments with nitrogen, the obtained value of \(\Delta\)E: 1.90 indicated colour differences at a noticeable (1.5 \(<\)\(\Delta\)E \(<\) 3) and statistically significant level (Table 4). Our results confirmed no significant changes in the colour of milk plasma treatment in air and nitrogen, as previously reported by [PERSON] et al. [59] and [PERSON] et al. [60] and [PERSON] et al. [6]. However, it should be noted that a different type of plasma was used in our experiment, and the exposure of the matrix to the plasma was much longer, which, according to [PERSON] et al. [61], may impact results.