Growth and survival of heat-, cold-, and acid-stressed Salmonella Typhimurium and native bacteria on chicken wings during refrigerated storage and temperature abuse

Authors: JIA, ZHEN - Auburn University; GONZALEZ, BRENDA - Auburn University; White, Stephen; Huang, Lihan; KAFLE, RANJU - Auburn University; OWEN, KATHRYN - Auburn University; SRIKUMAR, SHABARINATH - Auburn University; MOREY, AMIT - Auburn University; GARNER, LAURA - Auburn University; ROHLING, LANDON - Auburn University; JONES, ARABELLA - Auburn University; SMITH, CAMERON - Auburn University

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2026
Publication Date: 8/15/2026
Citation: Jia, Z., Gonzalez, B., White, S.N., Huang, L., Kafle, R., Owen, K., Srikumar, S., Morey, A., Garner, L., Rohling, L., Jones, A., Smith, C. 2026. Growth and survival of heat-, cold-, and acid-stressed Salmonella Typhimurium and native bacteria on chicken wings during refrigerated storage and temperature abuse. Poultry Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107618.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107618

Interpretive Summary: When present in food processing, Salmonella is frequently exposed to environmental stresses that may alter its survival and growth. These factors an influence food safety and the accuracy of microbial risk assessments. This study investigated the behavior of Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) on chicken wings in multiple conditions including unstressed, heat-stressed, cold-stressed, and acid-stressed. In addition, we developed models to predict shelf life during storage at 4, 10, and 20°C. At 4 and 10°C, the ST populations, stressed or unstressed, gradually declined, whereas full growth curves were observed at 20°C. At 4°C, unstressed ST and stressed ST followed linear survival kinetics, and cold-stressed showed 3-4 day longer declines than other conditions. At 10°C, unstressed ST maintained a linear decline trend, whereas all stressed ST declined nonlinearly. These results suggested that stressed ST may have potentially developed a defense mechanism during low-temperature storage. At 20°C, stress influenced ST’s lag phase, growth rate, and maximum population, particularly for acid-stressed conditions. These findings demonstrated that stress effects on ST behavior were temperature- and stress-factor dependent and indicated the importance of incorporating these factors into predictive models and microbial risk assessment.

Technical Abstract: During food processing, Salmonella is frequently exposed to environmental stresses that may alter its growth and survival, thereby influencing food safety and accuracy of microbial risk assessment. This study investigated the behavior of Salmonella Typhimurium (ST), unstressed (USST), heat-stressed (HSST), cold-stressed (CSST), and acid-stressed (ASST) on chicken wings and developed models to predict shelf life during storage at 4, 10, and 20°C. At all temperatures, native bacteria (NB) grew and were modeled using a no-lag phase (primary) model and Ratkowsky square-root (secondary) model for chicken wing shelf-life prediction. At 4 and 10°C, the ST populations, stressed or unstressed, gradually declined, whereas full growth curves were observed at 20°C. At 4°C, USST and stressed ST followed linear survival kinetics and the D value of CSST was 3-4 d longer than those of USST, HSST, and ASST. At 10°C, USST maintained a linear decline trend, whereas all stressed ST declined nonlinearly with shape parameters greater than 1. These results suggested that stressed ST may have potentially developed a defense mechanism during low-temperature storage. At 20°C, stress influenced ST’s lag phase, growth rate, and maximum population, particularly for ASST. These findings demonstrated that stress effects on ST behavior were temperature- and stress-dependent and indicated the importance of incorporating these factors into predictive models and microbial risk assessment.