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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fayetteville, Arkansas » Poultry Production and Product Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #361176
Research Project: Antibiotic Alternatives for Controlling Foodborne Pathogens and Disease in Poultry

Location: Poultry Production and Product Safety Research

Title: Effect of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil on the survival of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg in contaminated poultry drinking water

Author
item PEICHEL, CLAIRE - University Of Minnesota
item NAIR, DIVEK - University Of Minnesota
item DEWI, GRACE - University Of Minnesota
item Donoghue, Ann - Annie
item REED, KENT - University Of Minnesota
item KOLLANOOR, JOHNY - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2019
Publication Date: 10/2/2019
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6829267
Citation: Peichel, C., Nair, D., Dewi, G., Donoghue, A.M., Reed, K.M., Kollanoor, J.A. 2019. Effect of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil on the survival of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg in contaminated poultry drinking water. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 0:1-10. https://doi.org/10.3382/japr/pfz076.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3382/japr/pfz076

Interpretive Summary: Non-typhoidal Salmonella accounts for 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths annually in the United States. The pathogen leads to an estimated $ 3.3 billion loss to the U.S. economy as costs associated with the treatment. A variety of food commodities, including dairy products, raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, spices, fresh produce, seafood, poultry, beef, and pork serve as vehicles for Salmonella associated foodborne illness. Drinking water contaminated with Salmonella could serve as a potential source for cecal colonization of the pathogen in birds. The use of natural antimicrobials as antibiotic alternatives against pathogenic bacteria are receiving high consideration due to the increasing concerns over antibiotic resistance in pathogens encountered in food animal production. Plant-based, natural, and environmentally-friendly approaches, especially essential oils and their components, are effective options against foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157 in vitro and in vivo. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is traditionally used in Asian cuisine as a flavoring agent and previous studies have also demonstrated the antimicrobial property of lemongrass essential oil against foodborne pathogens such as S. Newport, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. However, the effect of lemongrass essential oil in controlling SH present in drinking water in presence of contaminants such as feed, litter or droppings has not been explored. This study investigated the efficacy of a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) -status essential oil, lemongrass essential oil against multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg in poultry drinking water. Farm water with and without droppings, litter, or feed [0.5% (w/v)] inoculated with 6.0 log10 cfu/mL Salmonella Heidelberg was treated with 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5% (v/v) lemongrass essential oil and stored at 12.5 or 22 C for up to 7 days. The surviving Salmonella Heidelberg populations were determined on d 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7. Overall, the results of this study reveal the potential of lemon grass essential oil as an alternative disinfectant to reduce Salmonella contamination in water and thereby reducing pathogen exposure to the birds.

Technical Abstract: Drinking water contaminated with Salmonella could serve as a source for cecal colonization of the pathogen in birds. We investigated the efficacy of a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) -status essential oil, lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) against multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg (SH) in poultry drinking water. Farm water with and without droppings, litter, or feed [0.5% (w/v)] inoculated with 6.0 log10 cfu/mL SH was treated with 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5% (v/v) LGEO and stored at 12.5 or 22 oC for up to 7 days. The surviving SH populations were determined on d 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7. At 12.5oC, all concentrations of LGEO consistently reduced SH to below detection limit (1 log10 cfu/mL??) in water alone and water added with droppings or litter by d 5 and 7 respectively (P<0.05). In addition, at 12.5 oC, LGEO at 0.25 and 0.5% resulted in a complete inactivation of SH in water or water with droppings within 24 h (P<0.05) and from litter by d 5 (P<0.05). The LGEO treatments resulted in 1.9- to 5.4 log10 cfu/mL reduction of SH on d 7 when water was contaminated with feed and stored at 12.5 oC (P<0.05). At 22oC, all concentrations of LGEO resulted in complete inactivation of SH in water by d 5 (P<0.05). Concentrations of LGEO = 0.125% resulted in complete inactivation (6 log10 cfu/mL) of SH in water with droppings from d 5 onwards (P<0.05) and resulted in 2.2- to 5.3 log10 cfu/mL reduction of SH on d 7 in water with litter (P<0.05). However, the activity of LGEO on SH was minimal in the presence of feed at 22oC. Results indicate the efficacy of LGEO against SH indicating the potential role of LGEO in improving poultry drinking water safety.