Survival of campylobacter jejuni in chicken meat, chicken skin and chicken liver at low temperatures

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine survival of Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) in chicken meat, chicken skin medallions and chicken liver contaminated with this bacterium at +4 °C and -20 °C, after 24 hours of incubation. The survival of C. jejuni at +4 °C, -20 °C in chicken meat, chicken skin medallions and chicken liver were examined after 24 hours of incubation with C. jejuni. All samples were previously tested for the presence of Campylobacter species according to ISO 10272-1:2006. After 24 hours of incubation at +4 °C, the number of survived C. jejuni in chicken meat slightly decreased on both non-selective and selective plates, but still in range of 106. After 24 hours of incubation at -20 °C, the number of survived C. jejuni in chicken meat was in range of 106 cfu/ml on non-selective plate, with complete absence of growth on selective plate. After 24 hours of incubation, the number of survived C. jejuni in chicken liver increased on selective and non-selective plates (>107) at +4 °C, while at -20 °C there were no C. jejuni survived on both plates. 24 hours of incubation at both temperatures did not much influence the number of C. jejuni in chicken meet, while chicken skin medaillons allowed increase of the number of bacteria. Incubation of chicken liver at + 4°C allowed bacterial multiplication, while incubation at -20 °C caused absence of survival.