Pulsed Light Application for Campylobacter Control on Poultry Meat and Its Effect on Colour and Volatile Profile

Campylobacter on poultry meat needs to be controlled to reduce the risk of infection caused by the consumption of chicken meat. Pulsed light (PL) application on poultry meat was studied to control Campylobacter spp. The effect of this technology was evaluated regarding poultry meat colour and volatile compound changes. Two breast sample groups were prepared: inoculated with Campylobacter (10⁷ bacteria of Campylobacter jejuni strains) and not inoculated. Samples were submitted to PL, five pulses/s of 300 ms, 1 Hz, and 1 J/cm² in the apparatus, PL Tecum unit (Claranor). A response surface experimental design was applied regarding the factors of voltage (1828 to 3000 W) and distance to the source UV lamp (2.6 to 5.4 cm). The binomial factorial treatment (voltage and distance) with PL induced different energy doses (fluence J/cm²) received by samples, 2.82 to 9.67 J/cm². Poultry meat pulsed light treated had a significant decrease of Enterobacteriaceae counts. The treatments applied were unable to reduce 1 log Campylobacter cfu/g of poultry meat. The poultry meat PL treated became slightly light, redder, and yellower than those not treated. PL can decrease the proportion of aldehydes on total volatiles in meat, particularly on those associated with chicken-like, chicken skin-like, and sweet odour notes in fresh poultry meat. Further studies of PL with higher energy doses will be necessary to confirm if there are Campylobacter reductions and about poultry meat treated under storage to evaluate if volatile compounds can affect the flavour of PL-treated meat samples.