Abstract
The consumption of yellow-feathered broiler has been advocated for purchasing with chilled meat rather than live broilers in Asia due to the outbreaks of animal influenza. Here, the microbial community of chilled yellow-feathered broiler response to modified-air packaging (MAP, 80% CO2/20% N2) and penetrated-air packaging (PAP, air-filling) during storage was revealed by a combination of whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing and traditional isolation methods, and the volatile organic compounds and proteolytic activity of representative dominant isolates were also accessed. The results revealed that MAP prolonged shelf life from 4 to 8 days compared to PAP, when the numbers of total viable counts and lactic acid bacteria reached more than 7 log CFU/g. Aeromonas, Acinetobacter, Escherichia, and Streptococcus occupied the bacteria communities in initial broiler carcasses. MAP dramatically increased the bacteria diversity during storage compared to PAP. Clear shifts of the dominant bacteria species were obviously observed, with the top genera of Aeromonas, Lactococcus, Serratia, and Shewanella in MAP, whereas the microbial communities in PAP were largely dominated by Pseudomonas. The isolates of Pseudomonas from PAP carcasses and Aeromonas from MAP carcasses displayed strong proteolytic activities. Meanwhile, the principal component analysis based on the volatile organic compounds indicated that the metabolic profiles greatly varied between each treatment, and no link between the natural odor of spoilage meat in situ and the volatile odor of the dominant isolates incubated in standard culture was found. These data could lead to new insights into the bacteria communities of yellow-feathered broiler meat during storage and would benefit the development of novel preservative approaches.
Highlights
The consumption of broilers, which is an indispensable source of meat popular worldwide, has been increasing over the last few years
The numbers of total plate count and lactic acid bacteria on carcasses exceeded 7.0 log CFU/g after storage for 4 and 8 days for penetrated-air packaging (PAP) and modified-air packaging (MAP), respectively, which was widely considered as the threshold of microorganism counts during meat spoilage
No difference in the numbers of both kinds of bacteria between PAP and MAP was found at the end of shelf life
Summary
The consumption of broilers, which is an indispensable source of meat popular worldwide, has been increasing over the last few years. Microbial Communities of Yellow-Feather Broiler broilers approved by the purchaser were individually sold and immediately slaughtered in wet markets, and there was usually less than 2 h between live broiler slaughtering and the meat being cooked. The traditional consumption pattern of yellow-feathered broilers has recently been prohibited by the Chinese government due to outbreaks of animal influenza such as H7N9. A new consumption pattern of “slaughtered in large-scale plants and sold with chilled meat” has been advocated nationwide and implemented for yellow-feathered broilers. In this pattern, there are usually more than 60 h between live broiler slaughtering and meat cooking. The microorganism loading on the broiler carcasses is an important concern, and innovative solutions are required to inhibit bacteria growth and extend the shelf life of chilled meat
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