Poultry Processing
Poultry Processing
Poultry Processing
and Nutrition
Research Note
Yun-Hee Hong, Gyeong-Ju Ku, Min-Ki Kim, and Kyung Bin Song
Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea
Abstract
Aqueous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) treatment was used for the inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and
Campylobacter jejuni in chicken. Chicken breasts and legs were inoculated with 89 log CFU/g of Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni, respectively, and then treated with 0, 50, and 100 ppm of ClO2 solution.
Aqueous ClO2 treatment decreased the populations of the pathogenic bacteria on the chicken samples. One hundred
ppm ClO2 treatment on the chicken breast and leg reduced the populations of Listeria monocytogenes and
Campylobacter jejuni by 0.611.93 and 0.991.21 log CFU/g, respectively. Aqueous ClO2 treatment affected
the microbial growth during storage at 4oC by decreasing the initial microbial populations. These results clearly
suggest that aqueous ClO2 treatment should be useful in improving the microbial safety of chicken during storage
and extending the shelf life.
Key words: chicken, aqueous chlorine dioxide, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni
INTRODUCTION
Consumption of chicken products has been increasing
due to high nutritional value and relatively low cost, but
the microbial safety of chicken remains a concern (1-3).
Chicken products are highly perishable, and food poisoning by pathogens can be caused by careless processing
and storage. Major bacterial contaminants in chicken include Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and
Campylobacter. Campylobacter jejuni is present in the
intestinal microflora of chicken, and it contaminates the
surface of chicken during processing, causing foodborne
illness in humans (4). Another food pathogen, Listeria
monocytogenes, also causes food poisoning, and it can
grow at refrigerated temperature and on dry surfaces.
In particular, during slaughtering process of chicken,
there is a high probability of cross-contamination by intestinal microorganism. Therefore, to enhance the microbial safety of chicken during processing and storage, various processing techniques such as microwave exposure
(5), trisodium phosphate and sodium hydroxide (3), potassium sorbate (6), lactic acid and sodium benzoate (7),
and lactic acid and lauricidin (8) have been used for reduction of bacterial counts as well as extension of shelf
life.
As a food preservation method, aqueous chlorine dioxide has been used. Chlorine dioxide is a strong oxidizing
agent and has a broad biocidal effectiveness (9). In addition, it does not produce hazardous trihalomethanes and
280
(a)
(b)
8
Log CFU/g
Log CFU/g
6
5
5
4
0
50
100
50
100
Fig. 1. Effect of aqueous ClO2 treatment on the survival of the pathogenic bacteria inoculated on chicken. Bars represent
standard error. (a) chicken breast (b) chicken leg. : Listeria monocytogenes : Campylobacter jejuni.
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ocytogenes by 0.31.3 log CFU/g, suggesting that aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment is more effective than potassium sorbate.
After 4 days of storage, populations of Listeria monocytogenes in the chicken breasts treated with 50 and 100
ppm of chlorine dioxide had 6.33 and 6.20 log CFU/g,
respectively, while the control had 6.53 log CFU/g (Fig.
o
2-a). During storage of the chicken at 4 C the growth
of Listeria monocytogenes was not vigorous, and the
bacterial populations increased only slightly after day 2.
Our results are comparable with the report of Hwang
and Beuchat (7), where the populations of Listeria monocytogenes on chicken wings increased during storage at
o
4 C However, after day 4, the populations of the bacteria
decreased. This change can be explained by the availability of essential nutrients for the microbial growth
during storage. It should also be noted that the effect
of chlorine dioxide treatment was not greater than right
after treatment.
Chicken leg controls had 7.34 log CFU/g of Listeria
monocytogenes however, the chicken legs treated with
50 and 100 ppm of chlorine dioxide were 6.31 and 5.82
log CFU/g, respectively (Fig. 2-b). These results indicate
that the decrease in the initial populations following
chlorine dioxide treatment affects the microbial growth
during storage, and that the difference in the degree of
decrease between the chicken breast and leg can be attributed to the different tissue characteristics, resulting
in a different growth pattern as well as degree of penetration by aqueous chlorine dioxide.
Campylobacter jejuni was similarly affected by aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment. After treatment, the control chicken breast had 7.94 log CFU/g, whereas the populations of Campylobacter jejuni for the samples treated
7.5
(a)
(b)
7.0
Log CFU/g
Log CFU/g
7
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4
0
Fig. 2. Effect of aqueous ClO2 treatment on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken during storage. Bars represent
standard error. (a) chicken breast (b) chicken leg. : 0 ppm : 50 ppm : 100 ppm.
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(b)
(a)
8.5
Log CFU/g
Log CFU/g
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
0
Fig. 3. Effect of aqueous ClO2 treatment on the growth of Campylobacter jejuni in chicken during storage. Bars represent
standard error. (a) chicken breast (b) chicken leg. : 0 ppm : 50 ppm : 100 ppm.
There have been several studies on the effect of aqueous chlorine dioxide on food products (14,17). Unda et
al. (14) reported that aerobic mesophilic bacteria on fresh
beef steaks treated with 100 ppm chlorine dioxide were
decreased by 1 log cycle. Wu and Kim (17) also reported
that aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment of blueberries
reduced the populations of five pathogens, and yeast and
molds. Our results in this study showed that aqueous
chlorine dioxide treatment decreased the populations of
Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni in
chicken during storage up to 4 days.
Overall, aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment appears
to achieve microbial decontamination. Therefore, our results clearly suggest that aqueous chlorine dioxide treatment should decrease the growth of pathogenic bacteria
such as Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni in chicken.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by a grant from the Rural
Development Administration, Korea.
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