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Title: NUTRIENT SUBSTRATES USED BY BACTERIA FROM THE POULTRY PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT

Author
item Boothe, Dorothy
item Arnold, Judy

Submitted to: Southern Poultry Science Society Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2001
Publication Date: 8/11/2002
Citation: BOOTHE, D.D., ARNOLD, J.W. NUTRIENT SUBSTRATES USED BY BACTERIA FROM THE POULTRY PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT. SOUTHERN POULTRY SCIENCE SOCIETY MEETING ABSTRACT. 2002.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Bacterial contamination of food products during processing can lead not only to product spoilage but also to human food-borne illness. In the poultry industry, such contamination of raw meat may result from intestinal flora released from live birds as a result of the processing steps or from bacteria already present in the processing plant (i.e., on equipment surfaces). Knowledge of the sources and properties of bacteria, including pathogens, in food processing environments will ultimately lead to their successful control and elimination. Bacterial populations from the poultry processing environment were obtained from saline rinses of cut-up meat samples (breast with or without skin, wings, and thighs) which were either fresh or stored at temperatures (4C or 13C) relevant to poultry processing facilities. The substrates utilized by the isolates were assessed with Biolog microtiter plates. Of the 62 substrates common to plates for gram-positive (GP) or gram- negative (GN) bacteria, one-third were utilized by 50% or more of all bacterial isolates. Similarly, one-third of the substrates were used by gram-negative bacteria but not by gram- positive bacteria. One-fourth of the substrates were also only used by a single isolate of the respective Gram type. For the remaining 33 substrates on each of the GP and GN plates, a higher percentage of substrates on GN than on GP plates were utilized by the respective isolates. Knowledge of these profiles of nutrient substrate utilization by bacteria isolated from the poultry processing environment may aid in construction of biofilms in the laboratory for additional study of these bacteria.