Antimicrobial Activity of N-halamine Coated Materials in Broiler Chicken House

Abstract

Broiler chicken houses are usually at a high risk of pathogen contamination travelling from birds to the facility or vice versa, during production. A hygienic living environment is important for producing healthy chickens. N-halamines are ideal antimicrobial agents due to their superior antimicrobial efficiency against a broad spectrum of bacteria, nontoxicity, high stability, rechargeability and low cost. The objective of this study was to assess the antimicrobial activity and the antimicrobial longevity of N-halamine (1-chloro-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-4-imidazoidinone (MC), a non-bleaching compound)-coated materials in broiler chicken houses. The antimicrobial test of MC illustrated that 0.04% MC solution was able to kill Salmonella Typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni completely at 106 CFU/mL. Based on this finding, we investigated the storage stability of MC coated materials and their antimicrobial longevity using iodometric/thiosulfate titration and the “sandwich test” method, respectively, over a four week time period. Results showed that the antimicrobial activity of 1% MC treated samples were able to kill Salmonella Typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni completely up to four weeks, at the concentration of 106 CFU/cm2, where the active chlorine atoms in the treated coupons decreased from the initial 1016 atoms/cm2 to 1015 atoms/cm2. Therefore, MC is assumed to be used as a novel antimicrobial agent in chicken broiler house.