Abstract
Eggs and their products such as desserts, confectioneries, bakery mixes, mayonnaise and many convenience foods have been implicated in food-borne disease outbreaks due to microorganism contamination. The effect of gamma irradiation on the presence of microorganisms in egg powder was investigated. Egg powder samples were exposed to several doses of irradiation: 0, 5, 10 and 15 kGy and stored for up to 12 months at ambient temperature (25 oC). Results indicated that the total viable count (TVC) (5.56 log10 cfu g-1), total coliform counts (TCC) (6.46 log10 cfu g-1) and mold and yeast counts (MYC) (9.12 log10 cfu g) in un-irradiated (control) samples of egg powder were higher than the maximum limits (4.88, 2.00 and 1.70 log10 cfu g-1, respectively). Application of the higher doses (10 and 15 kGy) decreased the TVC, TCC and MYC of the egg powder samples to less than 1 log10 cfu g-1 and the counts remained almost constant during storage for 12 months. D10 values for Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium were 0.714 and 0.278 kGy, respectively. Gamma irradiation treatment could be chosen on the basis of preliminary microbiological tests including TVC, TCC and MYC and help improve the hygienic quality by killing and reducing the microorganisms that might be present inside of egg powder to meet national and international standards.
Highlights
Egg is one of the most versatile and near perfect foods in nature, and its essential components form a balanced diet (Akpinar-Bayizit, Ozcan, Yilmaz-Ersan, & Gurbuz, 2010; Ndife, Udobi, & Amaechi, 2010)
During storage at room temperature, the microorganisms in egg powder products increased gradually reaching, at the end of the storage period (12 months), 9.12, 3.04 and 4.03 log10 cfu g−1 for total viable count (TVC), total coliform counts (TCC) and mold and yeast counts (MYC) respectively, indicating a high contamination percentage of these products
Microbiological population of used egg powder was found to be comparatively high, which was not in accordance with the national and international standards for egg powder that include less than 7.5 X 104 cfu g−1 in TVC, less than 100 cfu g−1 in TCC, less than 50 cfu g−1 in MYC (CODEX, 2007; SASMO, 2007)
Summary
Egg is one of the most versatile and near perfect foods in nature, and its essential components form a balanced diet (Akpinar-Bayizit, Ozcan, Yilmaz-Ersan, & Gurbuz, 2010; Ndife, Udobi, & Amaechi, 2010). Microbial contamination of eggs is a wellestablished phenomenon and has an important economic implication to the poultry industry (Farag et al, 2012; Wong & Kitts, 2002). Eggs become infected through a process of either transmission, or with moist faces contaminated with Salmonella. Following traversing of the eggshell, the associated membrane of the egg becomes permeable to Salmonella and other pathogens (Dadashi, Kiani, Rahimi, & Mousavi, 2017; Holt et al, 2011; Jaffer & Nazal, 2013; Nemeth et al, 2011). Safety of the internal compartments of eggs, in the new alternative poultry production systems, could be microbiologically altered (Holt et al, 2011; Jaffer & Nazal, 2013).
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