5. Conclusions
To sum up, the growth kinetics of co-inoculated pathogenic and
spoilage bacteria on poultry exposed to several decontamination
treatments were compared for the first time. A strong effect on growth
kinetic parameters was shown by the compounds TSP, ASC (marked
on Gram-negative bacteria) and CA (marked on Gram-positive). Results
in the present work suggest that there is no risk of the emergence
of pathogenic rather than spoilage bacteria as the result of decontamination
treatments in the case of most of the bacteria and antimicrobials
tested. However, concentrations of L. monocytogenes higher
than, or similar to, those of spoilage bacteria (B. thermosphacta and
P. fluorescens) were found on samples treated with TSP, ASC or CA.
These results suggest a potential for the overgrowth of L.monocytogenes,
relative to spoilage bacteria, on aerobically packed products (when
poultry is treated with TSP or ASC) or those packed anaerobically (samples
treated with TSP or CA), this making these treatments potentially
dangerous for consumers because a marked increase in the level of the
pathogenic bacteriamight take place before spoilage. It should be pointed,
however, that the results presented here are based on laboratory
studies, and additional research into practical applications would be
needed in order to confirm these findings.