Evaluation of various antimicrobial agents to reduce the load of Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry processing

Abstract

Poultry meat and products have been highly associated with outbreaks related to Salmonella and Campylobacter, and different interventions have been used for the reduction of these pathogens, with more emphasis on the processing plant facility with antimicrobial evaluation. In recent years, the consumer has increased the pressure on chemical-free food products. But novel interventions have not been adopted due to the high costs they represent. We conducted two studies with the objective of exploring new potential antimicrobial alternatives. Briefly, to accomplish these objectives, an in vitro experiment was conducted using a 96 wells plate inoculated with 104 CFU of Salmonella Typhimurium or Campylobacter. Plates were exposed to LED light (430 nm) for 0 or 5 mins to evaluate photodynamic therapy as an alternative using two different photoactive compounds, curcumin (CUR) and chlorophyllin (CH) at 100, 500 and 1000 ppm in comparison with a common antimicrobial used in the industry peracetic acid (PAA) at 100, 200, 300 ppm. These results indicate that CUR and CH were ineffective as antimicrobials under evaluated conditions, particularly compared to the commonly used antimicrobial, PAA. In the second study, pelargonic acid (PA) and lactic acid (LA) were evaluated against Salmonella Infantis (107 CFU/ml) alone and in combination with surfactants Saponin and Tween 80 at different concentrations in vitro and based on the results on chicken wing flats. PA was effective in the reduction of Salmonella Infantis in vitro but was ineffective on the chicken wing flats compared with a low concentration of 75 ppm PAA. These new alternatives needs more evaluation and standardization for be considered as potential antimicrobial for the poultry industry in the future.