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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317890
Title: Antibacterial Activity of Plant Extracts Against Food-Borne Pathogens and Spoilage Bacteria In Vitro and on Poultry Skin

Author
item HASSAN, HAZEM - Mansoura University
item MIN, BYUNG JIN - Tuskegee University
item AMIT, TIWARI - Tuskegee University
item REDDY, GOPAL - Tuskegee University
item ADESIYUN, ABIODUN - Tuskegee University
item Hinton Jr, Arthur
item ABDELA, WOUBIT - Tuskegee University

Submitted to: International Journal of Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2015
Publication Date: 5/30/2015
Citation: Hassan, H., Min, B., Amit, T., Reddy, G., Adesiyun, A., Hinton Jr, A., Abdela, W. 2015. Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against food-borne pathogens and spoilage bacteria in vitro and on poultry skin. International Journal of Poultry Science. 14:229-239.

Interpretive Summary: Some plant extracts are known to contain substances that inhibit the growth of bacteria; therefore, experiments were conducted to examine the ability of extracts of pomegranate, orange, and lemon peels to inhibit the growth of five bacteria associated with processed poultry. The antibacterial activity of the extracts was determined using the disc diffusion method, and minimum concentration of the extracts required to inhibit growth of the bacteria was determined using the Bioscreen Microbiology Analyzer. Additional experiments were performed to evaluate the ability of the extracts to decrease bacterial contamination of broiler chicken skin samples that had been inoculated with isolates of the test bacteria. Also, after treating the inoculated skin samples with the fruit peel extracts, the samples were examined with scanning electron microscopy to visualize the level of bacterial contamination. Results from disk diffusion assays indicated that extracts of pomegranate, orange, and lemon inhibited growth of each of the microbial isolates, although there was greater inhibition of Gram positive bacteria than Gram negative bacteria. The concentration of extracts required to inhibit growth of the bacteria ranged from 1.25 to 100.0 milligram per milliliter. Furthermore, treating chicken skin samples with the extracts reduced populations of 3 of the 5 bacteria placed on the skin. Findings of experiments indicated that peel extracts of pomegranate, orange and lemon might be used as ingredients in sanitizers for reducing bacterial contamination of poultry products.

Technical Abstract: Some plant extracts are known to contain substances that inhibit the growth of bacteria; therefore, experiments were conducted to examine the ability of extracts of pomegranate, orange, and lemon peels to inhibit the growth of five bacteria associated with processed poultry. The antibacterial activity of the extracts was determined using the disc diffusion method, and minimum concentration of the extracts required to inhibit growth of the bacteria was determined using the Bioscreen Microbiology Analyzer. Additional experiments were performed to evaluate the ability of the extracts to decrease bacterial contamination of broiler chicken skin samples that had been inoculated with isolates of the test bacteria. Also, after treating the inoculated skin samples with the fruit peel extracts, the samples were examined with scanning electron microscopy to visualize the level of bacterial contamination. Results from disk diffusion assays indicated that extracts of pomegranate, orange, and lemon inhibited growth of each of the microbial isolates, although there was greater inhibition of Gram positive bacteria than Gram negative bacteria. The concentration of extracts required to inhibit growth of the bacteria ranged from 1.25 to 100.0 milligram per milliliter. Furthermore, treating chicken skin samples with the extracts reduced populations of 3 of the 5 bacteria placed on the skin. Findings of experiments indicated that peel extracts of pomegranate, orange and lemon might be used as ingredients in sanitizers for reducing bacterial contamination of poultry products.