Effect of pimenta essential oil and peracetic acid as pre-grind dip treatments on emerging Salmonella, spoilage bacteria, and quality attributes of ground turkey during chilled storage

Effective postharvest interventions at the processing stages are recommended to control the transmission of emerging Salmonella serotypes from poultry products to humans. This study investigated the efficacy of pimenta essential oil (PEO) as a pre-grind chill dip antibacterial alone or in combination with peracetic acid (PAA) against emerging serotypes of Salmonella (S. Agona and S. Saintpaul) and spoilage bacteria in ground turkey meat. Turkey breast meat and skin inoculated with 3.5 log₁₀ CFU/g or sq. cm of Salmonella were dipped separately in treatment solutions, including 2 % PEO, 2.5 % PEO, 0.05 % PAA, and their combinations. Positive control samples without antimicrobials were kept for comparison. Bacterial recovery was done after diluting homogenized meat and skin samples. To follow, 2.5 % PEO, 0.05 % PAA, and their combination were tested as pre-grind chill dip antimicrobials against Salmonella survival and spoilage bacteria in turkey meat ground after the dip treatment during refrigerated storage for 7 days. Experiments followed a completely randomized design, and significance was determined at P < 0.05 (6 samples per treatment group). All treatments significantly reduced Salmonella counts on skin and meat samples. Treatments resulted in a complete reduction of Salmonella in chilling water, indicating the potential of preventing cross-contamination of carcasses in the processing line. In the pre-grind chill dip experiment, the treatments reduced Salmonella survival in ground turkey meat with a maximum reduction of 1.6 log₁₀ CFU/g observed in the combination group. Combination treatment reduced spoilage bacteria in ground turkey meat upon refrigerated storage. The pre-grind chill dip using the combination reduced ∼3.1 log₁₀ CFU/g of lactic acid bacteria, 2.5 log₁₀ CFU/g of Pseudomonas, 2.4 log₁₀ CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria, and 2.3 log₁₀ CFU/g of psychrophilic bacteria in ground turkey compared to the positive control. The combination also reduced lipid oxidation and purge loss without affecting pH and color. Results indicate the combination of PEO and PAA would be pre-grind chill dip antimicrobials before turkey meat is ground without affecting meat quality attributes.