Antimicrobial and physicochemical properties of cherry powder (CH) and celery powder containing pre-generated nitrite (celery juice powder, CJP) were evaluated in turkey bologna with 156 ppm modern cure/550 ppm sodium erythorbate (control-T1), 0.20% CJP (T2), 0.20% CJP/0.20% CH (T3), or 156 ppm CJP/ 469 ppm CH (T4). T4 had "vegetable/woody" aftertaste with lower (P < 0.05) appearance, aroma and overall acceptability than all other treatments. Lactic acid bacteria were similar for T1 and T4 during 4-10 weeks. T4 had lower (P < 0.05) anaerobic counts and L* values, and higher a*, b* and chroma than all other treatments. T2 had greater (P < 0.05) hue angles than TI and T4 during storage. Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (except weeks 4 and 5), pH, fat and ash were similar among all treatments. Moisture was higher (P < 0.05) for T4 than all other treatments, which was attributed to CJP content of at least 50% carbohydrate and 8.0% crude protein. T4 had similar antimicrobial properties, but lacked flavor and color of T1, which suggested additional purification of CJP to reduce carbohydrate.

The objectives of this study were to determine pH, anti-Listeria and general antimicrobial properties of nisin on ready-to-eat vacuum-packaged diced turkey ham inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes, and the usage level that would exert maximum antimicrobial effect during 63 d of storage. Ready-to-eat diced turkey ham was inoculated with a 5-strain L. monocytogenes cocktail; treated with 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5% nisin treatment solutions; vacuum-packaged; stored at 4+/-1 degrees C for 63 d; and analyzed at 1-wk intervals for total aerobic counts, pH, L. monocytogenes, and lactic acid bacteria. Antimicrobial effectiveness of nisin increased as concentration increased from 0.2 to 0.5%. Aerobic plate counts for 0.4 and 0.5% nisin were lower (P<0.05) than negative and positive controls. All nisin treatments resulted in 4 log reductions (P<0.05) in L. monocytogenes when compared with the positive control on d 0. Four log reductions were also observed on d 7 for 0.4% nisin treatment and d 7 and 14 for 0.5% nisin treatment when compared with the positive control. Listeria monocytogenes counts decreased from 4.97 log cfu/g on d 0 and remained less than 2 log cfu/g through 63 d of storage for the 0.5% nisin treatment. Lactic acid bacteria counts were lower (P<0.05) for 0.5% nisin treatment when compared with positive and negative controls from 28 through 63 d. Except for d 56 and 63, pH was similar (P<0.05) for all treatments. This study revealed that nisin could be used for postprocessing intervention to control L. monocytogenes in ready-to-eat poultry products.

The objectives of this study were to determine the anti-Listeria and general antimicrobial properties of nisin, rosemary, and EDTA alone and in combination on Listeria monocytogenes inoculated on ready-to-eat vacuum-packaged diced turkey ham and to ascertain the effects of the treatments on pH and objective color. The turkey hams were cut into 0.5-cm pieces, inoculated with a L. monocytogenes cocktail containing 5 strains of the bacterium, and treated with either no treatment and no inoculum (negative control), inoculum only (positive control), 0.5% nisin, 20 mM EDTA, 1% rosemary, 0.5% nisin + 20 mM EDTA, 0.5% nisin + 1% rosemary, 0.5% nisin + 20 mM EDTA + 1% rosemary, or 20 mM EDTA + 1% rosemary. All samples were vacuum-packaged, stored for 63 d at 4 degrees C +/- 1 degrees C, and analyzed at 1-wk intervals for total aerobes, L. monocytogenes, lactic acid organisms, pH, and objective color. Nisin, nisin with rosemary, nisin with EDTA, and nisin with rosemary and EDTA treatments reduced (P < 0.05) L. monocytogenes counts by 4.42, 4.20, 3.73, and 4.11 log cfu/g when compared with the positive control, respectively, on d 0. Listeria monocytogenes counts remained less than 2.75 log cfu/g for all hams treated with nisin. The EDTA and rosemary treatments alone and in combination were ineffective in inhibiting growth of L. monocytogenes. Although none of the treatments completely eliminated L. monocytogenes, the results indicated that ready-to-eat turkey ham can have significantly decreased L. monocytogenes when treated with nisin alone or in combination with rosemary or EDTA, or both.

AN220, a 4-page fact sheet by Sally K. Williams, Noufoh Djeri, Edsel Redden, David Dinkins, and David Bearl, describes a new summer sausage product featuring the datil pepper, which has been grown in the St. Augustine area for around 230 years — the formulation and the results of taste tests. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Animal Sciences, July 2009.