A Rapid Microbiological Method for Enumeration of Pseudomonas fluorescens from Broiler Chicken Carcasses

A method to selectively enumerate Pseudomonas fluorescens from fresh chicken carcasses in less than 24 h using capacitance microbiology was developed. Capacitance assays were conducted on whole-carcass rinses at 25°C using brain heart infusion broth (BHI) containing 25 μg of Irgasan per ml to obtain a detection time. The capacitance samples were spread plated on plate count agar for isolation and identification. From plates with the highest dilution, from each carcass, 4 colonies were randomly selected and identified. Seven species of bacteria including Pseudomonas fluorescens were responsible for capacitance detection times. Various antibiotics and chemicals were added to basal media or brain heart infusion broth with Irgasan and were evaluated to select for the growth of P. fluorescens . BHI broth containing 4 μg of nitrofurantoin, 120 μg of carbenicillin, and 25 μg of Irgasan, all per ml, was found to be optimal and was termed Pseudomonas fluorescens selective additive (PSA) (patent pending). In a second study, 12 carcasses were collected in each of three replicate trials. For each trial, 2 carcasses were sampled immediately and 2 were sampled after storage at 3°C on days 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. The BHI-PSA broth was found to be excellent for enumeration of P. fluorescens from broiler chicken carcass rinses in assays using capacitance microbiology at 25°C. The time required to enumerate P. fluorescens for all samples (day 0 to 15) was <22.4 h. This method is rapid and would be a useful tool for determining the number of spoilage bacteria on fresh chicken and thus may possibly be used to predict the potential shelf life of fresh chicken and other foods of animal origin.