Quality and Safety of Fresh Chicken Fillets after High Pressure Processing: Survival of Indigenous Brochothrix thermosphacta and Inoculated Listeria monocytogenes

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 7; no. 11; p. 520
• Main Authors: Argyri, Anthoula A, Papadopoulou, Olga S, Sourri, Patra, Chorianopoulos, Nikos, Tassou, Chrysoula C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02-11-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Bacteria; Brochothrix thermosphacta; Campylobacter; Chickens; Electrophoresis; Fillets; Food; Food safety; Gel electrophoresis; High pressure; high-pressure processing; Inoculum; Laboratories; Lactic acid; Lactic acid bacteria; Listeria; Listeria monocytogenes; Meat; Meat industry; Metabolism; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Pathogens; pfge; Poultry; Pressure effects; Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; quality; safety; Salmonella; Sensory evaluation; Shelf life; Spoilage; Storage temperature; Strains (organisms); Survival; Vacuum packaging; Yeasts; PFGE; poultry; safety; Listeria monocytogenes; Brochothrix thermosphacta; high-pressure processing; quality
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7110520

The effect of high-pressure processing (HPP) on
, the indigenous microbiota and the shelf-life of chicken fillets was evaluated. Chicken fillets were inoculated with different inocula (2, 4, and 6 log CFU/g) of a 4-strain cocktail of
, vacuum-packed, processed or not with HPP (500 MPa/10 min) and stored at 4 °C and 12 °C. Total viable counts (TVC),
,
spp.,
, lactic acid bacteria (LAB),
and yeasts/molds were determined along with the pH and sensory analysis. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to monitor the succession of indigenous
isolates and inoculated
strains. The main spoilage microorganism of HPP-treated samples was
detected after 3 days of storage. HPP decreased the inoculated
population. For the low and medium inoculum case it was detected throughout the shelf-life at both temperatures in populations near to the detection limit or after enrichment. In the high inoculum case, the pathogen decreased ≥5-log cycles after HPP, while increased subsequently to 1.6 and 4.5 log CFU/g at 4 °C and 12 °C, respectively, by the end of the shelf-life. PFGE showed that
isolates exhibited a significant diversity among control samples, whereas this was limited for the HPP-treated samples. The survival and distribution of different
strains depended on the initial inoculum and storage temperature. In conclusion, HPP increased the shelf-life (for 5 and 4 days, at 4 °C and 12 °C, respectively) and enhanced the safety of chicken meat.