MICROBIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF PORK LEG TREATED WITH ORGANIC ACIDS AND/OR STEAM UNDER PRESSURE IN THE CONTROL OF SURFACE CONTAMINATION BY Salmonella Typhimurium

Abstract

Asymptomatic carrier pigs are the main risk factor for carcass contamination during the slaughter. Several post-slaughter prevention programs have been tested, such as organic acids and steam under pressure. These alternatives show low cost and high efficiency. This study tested the use of organic acid solutions and steam, in isolated tests and its associations. This experiment also evaluated the physical-chemistry features of the pork. Forty pork legs were contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium DT 177 and subsequently divided into 4 treatments: immersion in physiological solution for 5 seconds (control, T1); immersion in physiological solution with 1000 ppm of organic acids for 5 seconds (T2); sprinkling of steam under pressure (4 bar) at 140ºC (T3); and T2 after T3 (T4). An area of 100cm² was sampled through superficial swabs for Salmonella counts by Most Probable Number method (MPN). Aspect, color, consistency, smell, and levels of fat, protein, pH, and moisture were also evaluated before and after each treatment. The use of steam associated to the immersion in organic acid solution showed better efficiency for reduction of superficial contamination (decreasing 100% of counts) but the better effectiveness was observed through the decreasing of 0.8 log of MPN at skin and 0.77 log of MPN at muscle by using the physiological solution (T1) and the organic acid solution (T2), respectively. The steam treatment associated with the organic acid solutions (T4) decreased the pH and increased moisture of pork legs, although it did not mischaracterize the quality (within required parameters for human consumption). All the other treatments did not change physical-chemistry fefatures.

KEYWORDS: organic acids; physical-chemistry; pork leg; Salmonella sp.; steam.