Reduction of microbiological risk in minced meat by a combination of natural antimicrobials

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture Vol. 94; no. 13; pp. 2758 - 2765
• Main Authors: Klančnik, Anja, Piskernik, Saša, Bucar, Franz, Vučković, Darinka, Možina, Sonja Smole, Jeršek, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.10.2014; John Wiley and Sons, Limited
• Subjects: Alpinia; Alpinia - chemistry; Alpinia katsumadai; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial properties; antimicrobials; Antioxidants - chemistry; Bacteria; bacterial cocktail; Campylobacter coli; Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter jejuni - growth & development; Campylobacter jejuni - isolation & purification; Catechin - analogs & derivatives; Catechin - chemistry; Cattle; Chickens; EGCG; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - growth & development; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; food chain; Food contamination & poisoning; Food Handling; Food Preservatives - chemistry; Food safety; Food Storage; Foods; growth retardation; Inhibition; juices; Listeria; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeria monocytogenes - growth & development; Listeria monocytogenes - isolation & purification; Meat; Meat - economics; Meat - microbiology; Microbial Viability; Microbiology; minced meat; Pathogens; Phytochemicals - chemistry; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Refrigeration; Risk; Safety; Seeds - chemistry; storage temperature; Strain; Sus scrofa; virulent strains; food safety; minced meat; bacterial cocktail; Alpinia katsumadai; antimicrobials; EGCG
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6621

BACKGROUND: Responsibility for food safety must be taken through the entire food‐production chain, to avoid consumer cross‐contamination. The antimicrobial activities of an Alpinia katsumadai seed extract and epigallocatehin gallate (EGCG), and their combination, were evaluated against individual food‐borne pathogenic strains of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni, individually and as a cocktail, in chicken‐meat juice and sterile minced meat as food models, and in minced meat with the naturally present microflora, as an actual food sample. RESULTS: The antimicrobial combination of the A. katsumadai extract and EGCG was the most efficient for C. jejuni growth inhibition, followed by inhibition of L. monocytogenes, which was reduced more efficiently in the bacterial cocktail than as an individual strain. The antimicrobial combination added to minced meat at refrigeration temperatures used in the food chain (8 °C) revealed inhibition of these pathogens and inhibition of the naturally present bacteria after 5 days. CONCLUSIONS: The antibacterial efficiencies of the tested combinations are influenced by storage temperature. Food safety can be improved by using the appropriate combination of natural antimicrobials to reduce the microbiological risk of minced meat. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry