This investigation aimed to assess the simultaneous impact of ultraviolet (UV) and cold plasma (CP) on the quality and microbial attributes of dried pistachios during the storage period. Currently, novel nonthermal technologies exhibit high potential as a low-cost, efficient, additive-free, and nonpolluting strategies for fungi deactivation and mycotoxins degradation in foods. Over recent years, the combination of CP with other procedures, such as ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ultrasound, ozone, and so forth, has been proposed and attracted lots of attention. For this purpose, in this study, the simultaneous effects of ultraviolet rays and cold plasma on dried pistachios artificially contaminated with aflatoxigenic fungi were assessed. The physicochemical attributes and surface morphology of pistachios were evaluated as well. The concentration of aflatoxin produced was investigated via high-performance liquid chromatography. Artificially contaminated pistachios were treated with cold plasma at 80 W constant power level at both 10 and 15 min. Following the plasma treatment, pistachio sam- ples were treated by ultraviolet rays at 354 nm wavelength and current intensity in 0.25 A at the same time. The results of this study revealed the fungal deactivation rate achieved by UV-CP treatment was greater than the sum of the deactivation rates of distinct UV and CP treatments, as maximum reduction of Aspergillus oryzae count (3.7 CFU/g) observed after simultaneous UV-CP treatment for 15 min (p < 0.05). Moreover, no substantial modifications were detected in the investigation of pH and DPPH radical scavenging activity of samples treated with UV-CP (p > 0.05). The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of the simultaneous application of UV rays and CP in nuts to maintain quality and increase useful life, along with an alterna- tive method for thermal treatments

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