Development of Antimicrobial Agents for the Extension of Poultry Shelf-Life

Abstract

Fifty three chemicals were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity around neutral pH against five predominant cultures isolated from spoiled poultry and three reference organisms. Eleven of these chemicals were found to be effective in the desired pH range of 6.5 to 7.5. Two of the eleven chemicals, iodoacetamide and chloroacetamide, were found to inhibit the growth of spoilage organisms at concentrations of 30 and 80 ppm respectively. Freshly processed broilers were immersed in solutions of these two chemicals, drained, packed in polyethylene bags, and held at 5 C until spoilage ensued. Birds treated with solutions of iodoacetamide and chloroacetamide at 5000 ppm were found to have average shelf-lives of about 11 and 10 days respectively compared to a shelf-life of 7.5 days for the control samples.