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Research Project: Improving the Quality of Animal Hides, Reducing Environmental Impacts of Hide Production, and Developing Value-Added Products from Wool

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Title: Evaluation of novel pre-slaughter cattle wash formulations for meat and byproduct safety and quality

Author
item LONG III, WILBERT - Orise Fellow
item Sarker, Majher
item Liu, Cheng Kung

Submitted to: Journal of Food Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/9/2017
Publication Date: 3/25/2018
Citation: Long III, W., Sarker, M.I., Liu, C. 2018. Evaluation of novel pre-slaughter cattle wash formulations for meat and byproduct safety and quality. Journal of Food Science and Technology. 14(2):33-41. https://doi:10.19026/ajfst.14.5829.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19026/ajfst.14.5829

Interpretive Summary: Bacteria contamination on the grain surface of cattle serves as an major issue for the meat and hide processers. Contamination on the grain surface can degrade the quality of meat by cross-contamination during processing and cause putrefaction of the hide. To reduce such damage, spray wash solution need to be developed which can be applied on carcass in industrial setting to clean and decontaminate it. This study reported five novel spray wash solutions which are capable of reduing pathogenic bacteria (i.e. Salmonella, E.coli) concentrations significantly from fresh hide in comparison to the treatment with water alone. This research also focuses on the impact of post-treatment on the leather produced from the formulation treated hides because hides are valuable byproducts in meat processing industries to produce leather. Microscopic analysis and mechanical studies revealed no detrimental outcomes on finished leather produced from the hides treated with most of the developed formulations.

Technical Abstract: To ensure safety and quality of meat and leather innovative new carcass washing formulations need to be developed and tested. This study investigated six novel spray wash solutions for their effectiveness on reducing microbial concentrations from fresh hide while concurrently examining their effects on leather quality produced subsequent to treatment. The combination of surfactants and anti-bacterial agents was the basis of developing effective wash formulations. Cleansing with water or only surfactant dissolved aqueous solution was found to be ineffective in reducing bacterial concentration including aerobic, enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella and E.coli. In comparison to spray water treatment, the effective formulations had average reductions of 4.19 to 5.59 log CFU of aerobic bacteria and up to 7 log CFU of enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella and E.coli concentrations per selected area. Microscopic analysis of the leather produced from treated hides revealed insignificant/no adverse impact from some of the developed formulations on finished byproduct. Additionally, mechanical properties of finished leather produced from the hides treated with the formulations and water were found comparable. From this research, several effective spray wash formulations have been developed which could be potentially used for carcass decontamination in industrial setting keeping the integrity of hide to produce quality leather.