R. Narendra Babu

Detecting the Occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni in Chicken Meat by PCR in Retail Outlets of Chennai

The prevalence of contamination with Campylobacter species were approximately 60% in any portions of raw poultry meats and by-products except for fillets and hearts. In most of the countries (both developed and developing countries), inspite of their sanitary conditions, a majority of retail poultry meats and by-products were contaminated with Campylobacter spp. C.jejuni was usually the dominant one, but the ratio of C.coli to C.jejuni varied among developed countries (Suzuki and Shigeki, 2008). The raw chicken meat has very high Campylobacter contamination levels.

Assessing the Microbial Quality (Listeria monocytogenes) of Chicken Meat by Polymerase Chain Reaction in Different Areas of Chennai

Meat can be contaminated at various stages of production by most of the microorganisms. Microbial quality of meat is an important aspect for industries engaged in production, processing and distribution. It is very persistent microorganism that survives on surfaces and equipment of food processing units in conditions of insufficient cleaning. Post processing contamination is the major source and cross contamination may also occur at the retail shop and also in products due to improper hygienic practices. Ingestion of uncooked meat contaminated during processing can produce infection. L. monocytogenes was found prevalently high in poultry meat (24.5%), intermediate in beef meat (24.4%) and less prevalent in pork meat (21.4%). Listeria monocytogenes has also been found in raw or processed foods like meat and seafood (Gugnani, 1999; Meng and Doyle, 1997). Listeriosis is a food borne infection with flu-like symptoms in healthy people and severe complications in immunecompromised children, pregnant women and elderly person (Pesavento et al., 2009). Hence a study is planned to conduct a screening of chicken meat for the presence of L. monocytogenes in different zones of Chennai with PCR.

Coagulase Gene Polymorphism in Staphylococcus aureus isolated From Chicken and Pork Marketed in Retail Outlets of Chennai

The present study was carried out to determine polymorphism in coagulase gene in S. aureus isolated from retail chicken and pork meat marketed in Chennai. A total of 94 S. aureus isolates viz., 46 isolates from chicken meat and 48 isolates from pork which were confirmed by standard biochemical methods were used in the study. PCR based on coa gene revealed nine and eleven different banding patterns in chicken and pork isolates respectively. Of the 46 chicken isolates, 37 (80.43 %) revealed single pattern and 9 isolates revealed multiple banding pattern (19.57 %). Majority of the chicken isolates amplified 891 bp coa product. Of the 48 pork isolates, 35 isolates (72.91 %) amplified multiple banding pattern and 13 isolates (27.08 %) showed distinctive single band pattern. Majority of the pork isolates produced double banding pattern of 723 and 891 bp coa product. The results of the study clearly indicated the prevalence of variants in coa gene of S. aureus within as well as between different samples from which they were isolated. Hence, coa gene polymorphism may be used as an easy tool for typing of S. aureus.

Effect of vacuum tumbling on quality and economy of tandoori chicken prepared from commercial broiler chicken meat

The present study was aimed to assess the quality and economy of tandoori chicken prepared from commercial broiler chicken meat by marinating the chicken breast meat at different vacuum tumbling time exposures, giving rise to five treatments viz. T0 (Control-No tumbling), T1 (30 minutes), T2 (1 hour), T3 (2 hours) and T4 (3 hours). After marination, the samples were immediately cooked for an average of 15 minutes at 250°C to prepare tandoori chicken breast meat. The results revealed a significantly higher pH of product in treatment T3. No effect of vacuum tumbling was observed on Thio-barbituric acid (TBA) value, tyrosine value (TV), total plate count (TPC), yeast & mould count (YMC). However, significant increase of pH, TBA value and TV with significant decrease in TPC of product was observed as a result of high temperature cooking. Significantly higheer sensory scores and profit per Kg were observed in treatment T3 and lowest in T0 (Control) with progressive increase from T0 to T3. Thus, marination at 2 hours vacuum tumbling followed by 15 minutes cooking at 250°C was found to be ideal for the production of tandoori chicken with better quality and economy.

Utilization of carrageenan, citric acid and cinnamon oil as an edible coating of chicken fillets to prolong its shelf life under refrigeration conditions

Aim: The present study was conducted to determine efficacy of edible coating of carrageenan and cinnamon oil to enhance the shelf life of chicken meat stored under refrigeration conditions. Materials and Methods: Chicken breast was coated with carrageenan and cinnamon oil by three methods of application viz., spraying brushing and dipping. The coated meat was evaluated for drip loss, pH, thiobarbituric acid number (TBA), tyrosine value (TV), extract release volume (ERV), Warner-Bratzler shear force value (WBSFV), instrumental color, microbiological, and sensory qualities as per standard procedures. Results: There was a significant difference observed for physicochemical parameters (pH, TBA, TV, ERV, drip loss and WBSFV) and microbiological analysis between storage periods in all the samples and between the control and treatments throughout the storage period but samples did not differed significantly for hunter color scores. However, there was no significant difference among three methods of application throughout the storage period though dipping had a lower rate of increase. A progressive decline in mean sensory scores was recorded along with the increase in storage time. Conclusion: The carrageenan and cinnamon edible coating was found to be a good alternative to enhance the shelf life of chicken meat under refrigeration conditions. It was also observed from study that dipping method of the application had comparatively higher shelf life than other methods of application.