## 1 Introduction  
Processing of ready-to-eat salads includes a washing step to remove dirt, debris, and cellular juice from the product. Additionally, the microbial load can be reduced using a washing step to some extent. However, in addition to the positive impact of washing, attention must be paid to the fact that the wash water can transfer microorganisms [1], and this can lead to a cross-contamination of the products. The addition of disinfectams may improve the reduction of the microbial load; however, during storage of the products, the positive effect seems to disappear, and faster growth of the microorganisms can be observed [2, 3]. Furthermore, due to the removal of competitive microorganisms, the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria might be enhanced [2] and has to be considered during the evaluation of inactivation efficiencies. Chlorine is widely used as a sanitizing agent in the fresh-cut produce industry due to its low cost and high antimicrobial activity [2]. However, because of potential hazardous by-products formed during chlorine application, the search for chlorine substitutes is still in demand [3]. In addition to chlorine, hydrogen peroxide and acid solutions [4], as well as ozone, organic acids, chlorine dioxide and electrolyzed oxidizing water came into focus in recent years [5]. The main focus of the research in this area surrounds the inactivation efficiency directly after the treatment and after defined storage times [2, 6, 7, 8], whereas only limited information is available about the microbial community changes on the products due to the application of sanitizers. [PERSON] et al. [9] found a shift in the microbial community on spinach after washing with chlorine and subsequent storage, whereas the microbial community after storage was again similar to pre-washing conditions. Dependent on the applied sanitizers, the composition of the microbial community on lamb's lettuce varied irrespective of the storage time [10]. Another alternative technique for the disinfection of fresh produce is cold plasma. The ability of cold plasma to inactivate microorganisms on fresh produce was demonstrated in various studies and the findings were summarized by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [11]. In addition to the application of plasma gas, cold plasma can be admixed in water, where the generated plasma species interact with the water and changes in the chemical composition occur, resulting in plasma-activated water (PAW). These modifications in the chemical conditions include changes in the conductivity and redox potential as well as the creation of an acidic environment and the formation of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen, resulting in good conditions for microbial inactivation [12]. PAW can be generated using two different approaches, i.e., plasma discharge above the water surface or plasma discharge in the water [13]. Depending on the generation method, different chemistry and reaction products of the PAW occur [12]. In the biomedical field, plasma-activated liquids are used for the treatment of cancer and the inactivation of microorganisms, while an agricultural application involved observing the impact of PAW on seed germination promotion and seedling stem elongation [14]. Information about the effectiveness of PAW on the decontamination of fresh produce is still rare [PERSON] et al. [13] investigated the impact of PAW (discharge above the water surface) on strawberries. They inoculated _Staphylococcus aureus_ on the strawberries and achieved inactivation up to 2.3 log units directly after treatment and after four days of storage (20 \({}^{\circ}\)C) using PAW treatment times up to 15 min. _S. aureus_ was reduced up to 3.4 log units depending on PAW generation time and PAW treatment time. Additionally, they evaluated the impact of PAW on strawberry quality and found no significant changes in color, firmness, and pH of strawberries. [PERSON] et al. [15] tested PAW (discharge above the water surface) as a postharvest preservation method for button mushrooms.