Eugenol as an antimicrobial wash treatment reduces Campylobacter jejuni in postharvest poultry

Abstract

The efficacy of the natural plant‐derived compound, eugenol (EG), as an antimicrobial wash treatment to reduce Campylobacter jejuni in postharvest poultry was investigated. The antimicrobial efficacy of EG was studied as a suspension, emulsion, or nanoemulsion treatment (two trials each). In each trial, chicken skin samples were inoculated with C. jejuni (∼7.2 Log CFU/sample), washed with treatments (0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, or 2% EG corresponds to 0, 7.61, 15.22, 30.45, 60.90, or 121.8 mM, respectively) for 1 min, drip dried for 2 min, and then processed at 0, 8, and 24 hr of refrigerated storage (n = 5 samples/treatment/time point). All doses of the EG suspension consistently reduced C. jejuni counts with the greatest reduction (>2.0 Log CFU/sample) for the 2% dose when compared with controls (p < .05). EG emulsions or nanoemulsions did not provide any additional reduction in C. jejuni when compared to EG suspension. Our results suggest that EG could be an effective postharvest intervention strategy for reducing C. jejuni contamination on poultry products. Practical Applications Campylobacter jejuni, a leading cause of foodborne illness in humans, is strongly associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry products. Interventions reducing C. jejuni contamination in poultry would reduce the risk of subsequent human infections. In this study, the antimicrobial efficacy of eugenol was studied in three different delivery systems; suspension, emulsion, or nanoemulsion. Our results demonstrated that eugenol was effective in reducing C. jejuni counts on chicken skin and can be used as a potential strategy to reduce Campylobacter on poultry products.

Select Phytochemicals Reduce Campylobacter jejuni in Postharvest Poultry and Modulate the Virulence Attributes of C. jejuni

“…In addition, neither increasing dose of garlic oil and ginger oil from 0.25 to 0.5% nor their combinations provide any further reduction. Similar findings were reported previously with eugenol and carvacrol as an antimicrobial wash treatment of C. jejuni on postharvest poultry (Shrestha et al, 2019a;Wagle et al, 2019a). This could be due to the hiding of bacteria in the crevices and empty feather follicles as C. jejuni is well known to reside in the pores of chicken skin (Chantarapanont et al, 2003;Jang et al, 2007), so sufficient concentrations could not reach.…”

“…Therefore, the multihurdle interventions from farm to fork are utmost for pathogen reduction to a safer level in the poultry meat. In this regard, we previously investigated the potential use of phytochemicals in preharvest chickens (as feed and water additives) and on the postharvest poultry (as an antimicrobial wash treatment of carcass) for reducing C. jejuni (Wagle et al, 2017a(Wagle et al, ,b, 2019aShrestha et al, 2019a,b). Since these results were promising, an additional application of phytochemical representing a chill tank treatment of commercial poultry processing step has been undertaken in the current research.…”

“…A previously published method was used for determining the antimicrobial efficacy of phytochemicals against C. jejuni on chicken skin (Wagle et al, 2019a). Chicken thigh skin parts were obtained from the pilot processing plant of the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR, United States), and skin samples of 4 cm × 4 cm were prepared aseptically.…”

“…The anti-Campylobacter activity of phytochemicals could be due to the interference in these mechanisms. Previously, researchers have tested several phytochemicals as antimicrobial wash and coating of poultry meat against C. jejuni and sought the mechanisms (Lu et al, 2011(Lu et al, , 2012Murali et al, 2012;Castillo et al, 2014;Kovács et al, 2016;Wagle et al, 2017aWagle et al, , 2019aShrestha et al, 2019a,b). In addition to the antimicrobial wash, chill tank treatment of carcasses with PAA is a common practice.…”

Campylobacter as a Major Foodborne Pathogen: A Review of Its Characteristics, Pathogenesis, Antimicrobial Resistance and Control

“…Therefore, intervention procedures for controlling Campylobacter in chickens have been created to diminish product contamination and subsequently the rate of Campylobacter diseases in human (Upadhyay et al 2019). With expanding the consumer requests for safe and natural products with negligible preservatives, important researches are being conducted to investigate the capability of natural antimicrobials for example, phytochemicals for controlling C. jejuni in chickens (Wagle et al 2017a andWagle et al 2019). Thus, this review shed light on all important issues related to Campylobacter spp.…”