Biological Inhibition of Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Smoked Fish and Chicken

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria in smoked fish and chicken poses a significant threat to food safety and public health. Exploring alternative approaches to inhibit these pathogens is crucial for developing effective control measures. This study investigated the biological inhibition of pathogenic bacteria isolated from smoked fish and chicken, exploring potential natural alternatives for improving food safety and reducing the risk of foodborne illness. A total of 280 samples that comprises 40 samples each of native chicken meat, layers chicken meat, broiler chicken meat, Chupea havengus (Herring/sawa), Truchurus trachurus (Horse Mackerel/Kote), Scomber Scombrus (Atlantic Mackerel/Titus) and Sphyraema barracuda (panla). The in vitro activities of the biological agents against the pathogenic isolates were determined using the agar-welled diffusion method. The data obtained were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and turkey’s test as post hoc analysis. The pathogenic bacteria majorly encountered in the studied samples were Escherichia coli 0157:H7 strain ECP19-598 (ECEC1), Staphylococcus aureus strain JP18269 (SAJP1), Listeria monocytogenes strain LM16 (LMLM1) and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis EC20110358 (SEEC2). These bacteria recorded 60.40% resistance to conventional antibiotics majorly amoxicillin (AMX), septrin in (SXT), chloramphenicol (CN), streptomycin (S) and augmentin (AU). The plant extracts; Piper guineense (PU), Ocimum gratissimum (OR) and Gongronema latifolium (GA) which contained alkaloids, tannins, phenolics, saponins, flavonoid, glycosides and steroids, and Lactobacillus species; L. acidophilus strain NC56 (LAN56) and T. plantarum stain 2359 (LP2359) significantly (p≤0.05) inhibited the pathogenic isolates, and the activity was seen more on plant extracts, mostly against ECEC1. Therefore, the medicinal plant extracts and Lactobacillus species have shown pronounced activities against ECEC1, SAJP1, LMLM1 and SEEC2 isolated from smoked fish and chicken meat samples, and plant extracts were more pronounced mostly against ECEC1.