Chicken juice, a food-based model system suitable to study survival of Campylobacter jejuni

• Published in: Letters in applied microbiology Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 66 - 71
• Main Authors: Birk, T, Ingmer, H, Andersen, M.T, Jorgensen, K, Brondsted, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 2004; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Campylobacter Infections - microbiology; Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter jejuni - growth & development; Centrifugation; chicken juice; Chickens; Colony Count, Microbial; Complex Mixtures - metabolism; Culture Media - chemistry; Filtration; Food Microbiology; food‐based model system; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; growth; Microbiology; Models, Biological; Poultry Products - microbiology; prolonged survival; Sterilization; Temperature; Applied microbiology; chicken juice; Campylobacteraceae; Model study; Foodstuff; Survival; food-based model system; Campylobacter jejuni; Vertebrata; Bacteria; Chicken; growth; Aves; prolonged survival; Food
• ISSN: 0266-8254; 1472-765X; 1365-2673
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1472-765X.2003.01446.x

Aims:  The purpose of this study was to develop a food‐based model system that resembles the environment that Campylobacter jejuni experiences on raw poultry products and use this model system to investigate growth and survival of the bacterium. Methods and Results:  Chicken juice was collected from frozen chickens and subsequently cleared by centrifugation and subjected to sterile filtration. At low temperatures (5 and 10°C) C. jejuni NCTC11168 remained viable in chicken juice for a remarkably longer period of time than in the reference medium BHI. When exposed to heat stress (48°C) C. jejuni NCTC11168 also showed increased viability in chicken juice compared with the reference medium. Furthermore, agar plates made with chicken juice supported growth of four clinical isolates of C. jejuni and a C. jejuni strain obtained from chicken at both 37 and 42°C. Conclusions:  Our work shows that minimal processed and sterilized chicken juice is an ideal environment for survival of C. jejuni and that it is useful as a food‐based model system. Significance and Impact of the Study:  The developed model system may contribute to the understanding of C. jejuni viability on poultry products and can be instrumental in the development of alternative preservation strategies.