Evaluating the efficacy of peracetic acid on Salmonella and Campylobacter on chicken wings at various pH levels

Peracetic acid (PAA) is commonly used as an antimicrobial aid during poultry processing to reduce the pathogen load on poultry and poultry products. However, limited research is available on the effects of pH on the efficacy of PAA against Salmonella and Campylobacter. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of PAA in reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter populations on chicken wings adjusted to various pH levels. Chicken wings (0.454 kg each) were inoculated with nalidixic acid–resistant (200 ppm) Salmonella Typhimurium (∼7 log(10) cfu/mL) and gentamicin-resistant (200 ppm) Campylobacter coli (∼6–7 log(10) cfu/mL). Inoculated wings were treated with PAA by immersion for 10 s or 60 min at 4°C to 6°C. The treatments included 50 ppm (0.005%) and 500 ppm (0.05%) PAA at 3 pH levels (8.2, 10, and 11) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH, pH 11). Surviving populations of Salmonella and Campylobacter were determined by sampling the chicken wings after treatments. Irrespective of concentration and pH of PAA, higher (P ≤ 0.05) reductions of Salmonella were observed subsequent to 60 min exposure as compared with 10 s of immersion. Immersion time and the higher pH of antimicrobial solutions did not affect (P > 0.05) the antimicrobial efficacy of PAA (50 or 500 ppm) against Campylobacter. The antimicrobial efficacy of PAA was not affected by pH of the antimicrobial solutions, and longer exposure time and higher PAA concentrations improve the antimicrobial efficacy.