Bacteriological profiles of dressed broilers at different conditions and frozen storage periods

Ehsan, M.A.; Rahman, M.S.; Chae, Joon-Seok; Eo, Seong-Kug; Lee, Ki-Won; Kim, In-Shik; Yoon, Hyun-A; Lee, John-Hwa

Korean Journal of Veterinary Research 2004;44(2):225-231.

M.A. Ehsan¹, M.S. Rahman¹, Joon-Seok Chae², Seong-Kug Eo², Ki-Won Lee², In-Shik Kim², Hyun-A Yoon², John-Hwa Lee²

¹Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University
²College of Veterinary Medicine and Bio-Safety Research Institute, Chonbuk National University

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the incidence of microorganisms associated with dressed broiler with intact skin and without skin at different frozen storage periods such as 0, 10, 20, 30 days and to demonstrate the role of packaging and pretreatment chilling on the changes of carcass quality. The values of total viable count (TVC), total coliform count (TCC), total streptococcal count (TStC) and total staphylococcal count (TSC) were determined for meat samples of thigh and breast and swab samples of visceral surfaces of the broilers with intact skin and without skin. It was observed that the values of TVC, TCC, TStC and TSC in both cases of dressed broiler with intact skin and without skin exceeded the International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods. However, numbers of microorganisms were considerably decreased during the frozen storage. Packing and prechilled conditions were generally better effective in decrease of the loads of microorganisms than without packing and prechilled conditions, and lower bacterial numbers were also found in dressed broiler with intact skin than that without skin. The highest sensory panel score was obtained at 10 days of frozen storage. These results, thus, indicate that usages of appropriate periods and conditions of frozen storage and packaging systems can minimize the potential health hazards associated with contaminants gaining access to the dressed or processed broilers and improve the quality and shelf life of dressed broilers.

Key Words: broiler, microorganism, frozen storage, packing, public health