Effect of Sodium Nitrite, Nisin and Lactic Acid on the Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Listeria monocytogenes Naturally Present in Poultry

Cristina Rodríguez-Melcón; Alexandra Esteves; Javier Carballo; Carlos Alonso-Calleja; Rosa Capita

doi:10.3390/foods12173273

Effect of Sodium Nitrite, Nisin and Lactic Acid on the Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Listeria monocytogenes Naturally Present in Poultry

Foods. 2023 Aug 31;12(17):3273. doi: 10.3390/foods12173273.

Authors

Cristina Rodríguez-Melcón^{1

2}, Alexandra Esteves³, Javier Carballo⁴, Carlos Alonso-Calleja^{1

2}, Rosa Capita^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Veterinary Faculty, University of León, E-24071 León, Spain.
² Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of León, E-24071 León, Spain.
³ Department of Veterinary Sciences, School of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁴ Area of Food Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Vigo, E-32004 Ourense, Spain.

Abstract

The impact of treating minced chicken meat with sodium nitrite (SN, 100 ppm), nisin (Ni, 10 ppm) and lactic acid (LA, 3000 ppm) on the levels of some microbial groups indicating hygiene quality were investigated. Specifically, aerobic plate counts and culture-based counts of psychrotrophic microorganisms and enterobacteria were obtained. Additionally, the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes and the resistance of 245 isolates from this bacterium to 15 antibiotics were documented. L. monocytogenes was isolated using the ISO 11290-1:2017 method and confirmed with polymerase chain reaction using the lmo1030 gene. Antibiotic resistance was established using the disc diffusion technique (EUCAST and CLSI criteria). Twenty-four hours after treatment, the microbial load (log₁₀ cfu/g) was reduced (p < 0.05) relative to controls in those samples treated with LA, with counts of 5.51 ± 1.05 (LA-treated samples) vs. 7.53 ± 1.02 (control) for APC, 5.59 ± 1.14 (LA) vs. 7.13 ± 1.07 (control) for psychrotrophic microorganisms and 2.33 ± 0.51 (LA) vs. 4.23 ± 0.88 (control) for enterobacteria. L. monocytogenes was detected in 70% (control samples), 60% (samples receiving SN), 65% (Ni) and 50% (LA) (p > 0.05) of samples. All strains showed resistance to multiple antimicrobials (between 3 and 12). In all, 225 isolates (91.8%) showed a multi-drug resistant (MDR) phenotype, and one isolate (0.4%) showed an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) phenotype. The mean number of resistances per strain was lower (p < 0.01) in the control samples, at 5.77 ± 1.22, than in those receiving treatment, at 6.39 ± 1.51. It is suggested that the use of food additives might increase the prevalence of resistance to antibiotics in L. monocytogenes, although additional studies would be necessary to verify this finding by analyzing a higher number of samples and different foodstuffs and by increasing the number of antimicrobial compounds and concentrations to be tested.

Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes; antibiotic resistance; chicken meat; food additives; hygienic quality.

Grants and funding

LE018P20/Junta de Castilla y León