Investigation of the Effects of Antimicrobials to Control Campylobacter Jejuni in Chicken Carcass

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of antimicrobial substances to reduce Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) ATCC 700819 in chicken carcass at the final wash or cooling step in the poultry slaughtering process. The inoculated chicken meat was divided into four groups, which were control, 5% nisin, 50% whey, and 5% Nigella sativa (N. sativa). For both dipping and spray treatments, the microbial count of C. jejuni was analysed on 3 d, 4 d, and 7 d. The results showed that whey and N. Savita at 3 and 4 days, respectively, were more effective for spray method, whereas for nisin, it was more effective for dipping method at 3 and 7 days. For polymerase chain reaction (PCR), all isolates belonged to the genus Campylobacter and C. jejuni, as indicated by bands at 650 bp and 323 bp, respectively. For the enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR), it indicated that the isolated strain of C. jejuni was the same as to the reference strain of C. jejuni ATCC 700819 that was inoculated. The findings clearly suggested that the dipping and spray methods had the ability to reduce C. jejuni in chicken meat. To date, no effective, practical measures to reduce or completely prevent C. jejuni. This is the first report investigating the effects of antimicrobial substances (nisin, whey, N. sativa) on C. jejuni. Overall, this study should open the door for commercial companies to use alternative antimicrobial, which can be more competitive than those of commercial types.