Background: Disinfection of carcasses plays a significant role in the overall decontamination of meat. During slaughter and processing, harmful bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria can contaminate the meat. If proper disinfection is not done, these pathogens can survive and spread through the food chain. This can lead to foodborne diseases and serious illness in humans. Therefore, effective carcass disinfection is essential to ensure meat safety and protect public health.
Methods:A study was undertaken to evaluate the different decontaminants like, water, chlorine (CL) 100 ppm and peroxyacetic acid (PAA) 50 ppm, on naturally contaminated chicken carcasses. The chicken carcasses were immersed in various decontaminant solutions for 5 minutes. After treatment, each group, along with the untreated control, was evaluated for various physiochemical parameters, including pH, Thio barbituric acid (TBA) value, and tyrosine content. A significant increase (p?0.01) in the physiochemical parameters was observed as the storage period progressed from 0 to 9 days and 0 to 30 days in both the control and treated samples.
Results: From the present study, it was concluded that the application of peroxyacetic acid effectively lowered surface bacterial count on poultry carcass. It may be concluded from the results that a 50ppm peroxyacetic acid-treated carcass can be safely stored for 9 days at (4±1 °C) and for 30 days under vacuum packaging at (-1.5 to -2.5 °C) without exhibiting undesirable quality changes.
International Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry
