Exploiting the microbiota of organic and inorganic acid-treated raw poultry products to improve shelf-life

Dana K Dittoe; Kristina M Feye; Christina Ovall; Hayley A Thompson; Steven C Ricke

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1348159

Exploiting the microbiota of organic and inorganic acid-treated raw poultry products to improve shelf-life

Front Microbiol. 2024 Feb 27:15:1348159. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1348159. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Dana K Dittoe¹, Kristina M Feye², Christina Ovall³, Hayley A Thompson⁴, Steven C Ricke⁵

Affiliations

¹ Animal Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States.
² Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
³ Jones-Hamilton Co., Walbridge, OH, United States.
⁴ Center for Food Safety, Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
⁵ Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Program, Animal and Dairy Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Targeted amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA delineates the complex microbial interactions that occur during food spoilage, providing a tool to intensively screen microbiota response to antimicrobial processing aids and interventions. The current research determines the microbiota and spoilage indicator (total aerobes and lactic acid bacteria; LAB) response to inorganic and organic antimicrobial intervention use on the shelf-life of fresh, never-frozen, skin-on, bone-in chicken wings.

Methods: Wings (n=200) were sourced from local processor and either not treated (NT) or treated with 15-s dips of tap water (TW), organic (peracetic acid; PAA), inorganic acids (sodium bisulfate; SBS), and their combination (SBS + PAA). Wings were stored (4°C) and rinsed in neutralizing Buffered Peptone Water (BPW) for 1 min on d 0, 7, 14, and 21 post-treatment. Spoilage indicators, aerobic mesophiles and LAB, were quantified from rinsates. Genomic DNA of d 14 and 21 rinsates were extracted, and V4 of 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. Sequences were analyzed using QIIME2.2019.7. APC and LAB counts were reported as Log₁₀ CFU/g of chicken and analyzed in R Studio as a General Linear Model using ANOVA. Pairwise differences were determined using Tukey's HSD (P£0.05).

Results: Spoilage was indicated for all products by day 21 according to APC counts (>7 Log₁₀ CFU/g); however, wings treated with SBS and SBS + PAA demonstrated a 7-day extended shelf-life compared to those treated with NT, TW, or PAA. The interaction of treatment and time impacted the microbial diversity and composition (p < 0.05), with those treated with SBS having a lower richness and evenness compared to those treated with the controls (NT and TW; p < 0.05, Q < 0.05). On d 14, those treated with SBS and SBS + PAA had lower relative abundance of typical spoilage population while having a greater relative abundance of Bacillus spp. (~70 and 50% of population; ANCOM p < 0.05). By d 21, the Bacillus spp. populations decreased below 10% of the population among those treated with SBS and SBS + PAA.

Discussion: Therefore, there are differential effects on the microbial community depending on the chemical intervention used with organic and inorganic acids, impacting the microbial ecology differently.

Keywords: microbiome; peracetic acid; poultry; shelf life; sodium bisulfate.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Jones-Hamilton Co. funded the current research. Their financial support did not influence the design, execution, and results of the current work.