Purpose: The objectives of this study were to: a) determine the antimicrobial efficacy of LAE against Campylobacter jejuni in vitro and b) study the effect of LAE treatments on growth of spoilage microorganisms on chicken breast fillets.
Methods: Campylobacter jejuni (ATCC 33291; ~6 log CFU/ml) was treated with 0 (control), 50, 100 and 200 ppm of LAE solutions for 2h at 4°C in 0.1% peptone water. In second experiment, uninoculated skinless chicken breast fillets were treated with 0, 200 and 400 ppm of LAE packaged and stored at 4°C for analysis after 0, 3, 9, and 14 days for growth of mesophilic and psychrotrophic organisms. All samples were analyzed in duplicate and both experiments were replicated two times.
Results: LAE was highly effective against C. jejuni in vitro with no detectable survivors after exposure to 50, 100, and 200 ppm. All LAE treatments caused more than 5 log reduction of C. jejuni as compared to control. Treating chicken breast fillets with 400 ppm of LAE caused 2.3-log reduction of psychrotrophs (P < 0.05) as compared to control on day 0 of storage. However, no difference existed (P > 0.05) in the growth of mesophiles and psychrotrophs on chicken breast fillets after treatment with 200 and 400 ppm LAE as compared to control after 3 days.
Significance: The results of study indicated that LAE is effective in inactivating C. jejuni but has no effect against spoilage microflora at the currently approved level of 200 ppm in poultry products. Higher concentrations of LAE may be needed to increase the shelf life of poultry products.