## 1 Introduction  
According to European Community standards, fresh-cut plants, which are essential to human health and wellbeing, are defined as minimally processed, ready-to-eat, fresh-cut products, i.e., subject to reduced technology for direct consumption without further handling or with minimal handling [1]. Post-harvest shelf life and microbial control strategies for these plants are often based on the use of chemical compounds that are harmful to both human health and the environment. Today, it is important to find effective alternatives to traditional technologies to ensure safety and quality. Washing is the easiest way to clean plants, but it is unable to remove all microorganisms, some of which remain attached to the plant surfaces. Different decontamination methods have been described in the literature, where they are compared in terms of microbial decontamination efficacy and their effects on biochemical, aroma, and color properties [2]. Maintaining the desired visual and sensory values is very important for applications of the finished product and for consumers. The applied decontamination techniques should not strongly affect the color or the content of essential compounds, namely, volatile aroma compounds. A special type of treatment should be selected for sporulating microorganisms, which are particularly resistant to various environmental factors. Currently, available decontamination technologies include gamma irradiation [3], high-temperature steaming [2; 4], and chemical treatment with ethylene oxide [2]. However, these methods have toxicological consequences and may affect the composition, aroma, flavor, or color of the obtained product [4]. Therefore, other technologies are sought with equally good antimicrobial properties but fewer side effects. These include high hydrostatic pressure [5] and radiation using infrared [6], microwaves, or ultraviolet [2]. Such methods are not without disadvantages and limitations. For example, heat sterilization is unsuitable if thermally sensitive aroma and flavor components are present in the raw material [2]. Currently, there is no universal method for reducing the microbiological content of spices and herbs. Ozonation may be considered one of the most promising treatments for the decontamination of fresh products in the food industry [2]. Ozone also seems to be a potential alternative disinfectant due to its mechanism of fast degradation of oxygen as well as the fact that it does not generate any residue after the process [7; 8; 9]. Moreover, ozonation has no need for thermal energy and can be generated at the time of use. Thus, it does not require any transport or chemical storage, which reduces the total operation cost on an industrial scale. In these respects, ozonation can be considered a green and environmentally friendly process [10]. In 1997, ozone (O\({}_{3}\)) was generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and from 2001, it has been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a sanitizing agent for direct contact with food. Therefore, it has received more attention from scientists and industry sectors [11]. Ozone technology improves food safety without compromising quality or endangering the environment [12]. Ozone, applied in either gaseous or aqueous phases [13], has been used as a postharvest treatment of fruits and vegetables with satisfactory results [14; 15; 16; 17; 18]. Ozonation of strawberries was found to delay the loss of weight and softening [19]. Similarly, ozone treatment extended shelf-life and retained the quality of fresh-cut celery [20] and lettuce [21] by reducing microbial contamination. Ozonation may also be an effective method of removing the residues of fenitrothion and benomyl pesticides from persimmon leaves [22]. Its microbial properties result from its high potential oxidizing capacity. Oxidation leads to the formation of primary species with high reactivity. However, microorganisms show varied sensitivity to ozone.