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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140828
Title: TRACKING PSEUDOMONAS SPP. IN COMMERCIAL CHILLING AND REFRIGERATED STORAGE OF POULTRY CARCASSES

Author
item Hinton Jr, Arthur
item Cason Jr, John
item Ingram, Kimberly

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2002
Publication Date: 8/11/2003
Citation: Hinton Jr, A., Cason Jr, J.A., Ingram, K.D. 2003. Tracking pseudomonas spp. in commercial chilling and refrigerated storage of poultry carcasses. [abstract] Poultry Science. 82(suppl.1):138

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Trials were conducted to examine the effect of immersion chilling and refrigerated storage on the number and types of Pseudomonas bacteria recovered from broiler carcasses. The whole-carcass-rinse procedure was used to recover bacteria from prechilled and chilled carcasses and from chilled carcasses that were stored at 4oC for 7, 10, or 14 days. Bacteria in the carcass rinsates were enumerated on Pseudomonas Agar. Isolates recovered from the carcass rinsates were identified using the MIDI Sherlock Microbial Identification System, and dendrograms of the fatty acid profiles of the Pseudomonas bacteria were prepared to determine the degree of relatedness between the isolates. Findings indicated that immersion chilling did not significantly reduce the number of bacteria recovered from the carcasses in 3 of 4 trials. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the number of bacteria recovered from the carcasses after refrigeration for 7, 10, or 14 days. Dendrograms of the fatty acid profiles of the isolates indicated that the same Pseudomonas strain may be isolated from chilled and refrigerated carcasses processed on the same day at the same facility and from carcasses processed on different days at the same facility. Pseudomonas species isolated from the carcasses included P. chlororaphis, P. flourescens, P. putida, and P. syringae syringae. Experimental results indicated that the some pseudomonads may survive processing and contaminate carcasses as the broilers are passed through the chill tank. These findings may be useful in designing methods to control the spread of spoilage bacteria during poultry.