Peanut skins as a natural antimicrobial feed additive to reduce the transmission of Salmonella in poultry meat produced for human consumption

Authors: Redhead, Adam; AZMAN, NUR FATIN I.N. - Universiti Putra Malaysia; NASARUDDIN, ANIS IZZATY - Universiti Putra Malaysia; Vu, Thien; SANTOS, FERNANDA - North Carolina State University; MALHEIROS, RAMON - North Carolina State University; HUSSIN, ANIS SHOBIRIN - Universiti Putra Malaysia; Toomer, Ondulla

Submitted to: Journal of Food Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/6/2021
Publication Date: 11/6/2021
Citation: Redhead, A.K., Azman, N., Nasaruddin, A., Vu, T.C., Santos, F., Malheiros, R., Hussin, A.M., Toomer, O.T. 2021. Peanut skins as a natural antimicrobial feed additive to reduce the transmission of Salmonella in poultry meat produced for human consumption. Journal of Food Protection. 85(10):1479-1487. https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-21-205.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-21-205

Interpretive Summary: Salmonella is the leading cause of bacterial food-borne zoonoses in humans. The consumption of poultry products contaminated with Salmonella species is one of the most common cause of Salmonella infections. Antimicrobial growth promotants have been the most used agents to enhance growth performance and reduce bird mortality. However, the use of these agents has been associated with acquired resistance and residues in the meat. Thus, the search for alternative strategies to replace antibiotics as a feed additive has gained interest in the poultry and agricultural industry. Peanut skin polyphenolic compounds have been shown to have antimicrobial properties similar to the action of antibiotic benzylpenicillin sodium. Thus, in this study we aim to determine the antimicrobial properties of peanut skins as a natural feed additive for broiler chickens to reduce the transmission of Salmonella. Body weights, feed intake or production performance were not adversely affected by feeding peanut skins. While there were no significant differences in SE counts between fecal, litter or feed samples at the 95% confidence interval, the peanut skin fed Salmonella inoculated birds tended (P = 0.1) to have a lower Salmonella CFU/g compared to SE counts in the Salmonella inoculated fed the non-supplemented control diet, suggesting that peanut skins may be an effective antimicrobial feed additive.

Technical Abstract: Salmonella is the leading cause of bacterial foodborne zoonoses in humans. Thus, the development of strategies to control bacterial pathogens in poultry is essential. Peanut skins, a considerable waste by-product of the peanut industry is discarded and of little economic value. However, peanut skins contain polyphenolic compounds identified that have antimicrobial properties. Hence, we aim to investigate the use of peanut skins as an antibacterial feed additive in the diets of broilers to prevent the proliferation of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). One hundred sixty male hatchlings (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to, (1) PS: peanut skin diet without SE inoculation (2) PSSE: peanut skin diet and SE inoculation 3) CON: control diet without SE inoculation (4) CONSE: control diet with SE inoculation. Feed intake and body weights were determined at week 0 and 5. On days 10 and 24 post hatch, 3 birds/pen (24 total) from each treatment group were euthanized and the liver, spleen, small intestine, and ceca were collected. The weights of the liver, spleen and ceca were recorded. Organ invasion was determined by counting SE colonies. Each pen served as an experimental unit and was analyzed using a t-test. Performance data was analyzed in a completely randomized design using a general linear mixed model to evaluate differences. There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) in weekly average pen body weight, total feed consumption, bird weight gain and feed conversion ratio between the treatment groups. There were no significant differences in SE CFU/g for fecal, litter or feed between treatment groups CONSE and PSSE. However, for both fecal and litter, the PSSE treatment group tended (P =0.1) to have a lower Salmonella CFU/g compared to the CONSE treatment group. The results indicate that peanut skins may have potential application as an antimicrobial feed additive to reduce the transmission or proliferation of SE in poultry environments or flocks.