The aim of this study was to investigate antibacterial effects of oregano and thyme essential oils (EOs) on some food-borne bacteria. GC-MS analysis of EOs was performed in order to determine their composition and phenols were predominant constituents. The investigation of the antibacterial effects of EOs was performed on Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Thyphimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, and MICs were determined by broth microdilution method. EOs exhibited antibacterial activity against all tested microorganisms

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of breed line and age on pH in broiler chicken breast muscles. pH values of m. pectoralis major muscle were compared within 6 groups - each line (Cobb, Ross, Hubbard) was divided into two groups aged 42 and 50 days. pH values were recorded 15minutes, 24 and 48hours after slaughtering. Older broilers showed significantly lower pH than younger ones. Interactions between breed line and age were found, except for pH after 24hours. Meat quality of broilers can be estimated quickly by determining the pH-value of breast meat

Fast-growing broiler chickens are subjected to breast myopathies such as white striping (WS), wooden breast (WB), and spaghetti meat (SM). Available studies about risk factors for myopathy occurrence often used flock data whereas a few reports evaluated chicken individual data. Thus, the present study aimed to elucidate the effect of growth and slaughter traits, besides sex and genotype on myopathy occurrence. Data were obtained from eight experimental trials, which used a total of 6,036 broiler chickens. Sex, genotype, daily weight gain, slaughter weight, and breast yield were evaluated as potential risk factors by logistic regression analyses. Then, the effects of myopathy and sex were evaluated on meat rheological traits (pH, colour, cooking losses and shear force). Based on a logistic regression, WS occurrence was associated with genotype, breast weight, and breast yield. Compared with chickens with intermediate breast weight and breast yield, higher odds of having WS were found in chickens with high breast weight (OR: 1.49) and yield (OR: 1.27), whereas lower odds were found in those with low breast weight (OR: 0.57) and yield (OR: 0.82). As for WB and SM, females had lower odds of having WB (OR: 0.55) and higher odds of showing SM (OR: 15.4) compared to males. In males, higher odds of having WB were found in chickens with a high daily weight gain (OR: 1.75) compared to those with an intermediate daily weight gain. In females, higher odds of having SM were associated to a high slaughter weight (OR: 2.10) while lower odds to a low slaughter weight (OR: 0.87). As for meat quality, only WB meat was clearly different for some technological and sensorial properties, which can play a major role also in meat processing. In conclusion, our analysis identified breast development as a potential risk factor for WS, while a high growth was the risk factor for WB and SM. A different probability of having WB or SM in females and male was found.

The effect of different modified atmosphere packaging regimes on the behavior of Salmonella spp. on minced meat was studied. Minced meat was experimentally contaminated with a Salmonella spp. cocktail (S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S. Infantis and S. Arizonae), packaged under vacuum or modified atmosphere with initial headspaces containing 20%O2/50%CO2/30%N2 and 20%O2/30%CO2/50%N2) and stored at 3±1°C for 12 days. Samples were analyzed for Salmonella spp., viable and lactic acid bacteria count every third day. Salmonella spp. counts decreased during storage in all packaging types, with reductions of about 1.5logCFU/g. A significant difference (p<0.01) was noted between Salmonella spp. counts in meat packaged in vacuum and modified atmospheres, although there was no significant difference in Salmonella spp. count between meat packaged in 50%CO2, and meat packaged in 30%CO2. At the end of the study, there were significant differences (p<0.01; p<0.05) in total viable and lactic acid bacterial counts between meat packaged in vacuum and modified atmosphere, and the lowest counts were noted in meat packaged in modified atmosphere with 50%CO2.