Before inoculation, bacterial counts on the skinless poultry legswere
belowthe detection limit (0.7 log10 cfu/cm2 for the pour plate technique
and 1.7 log10 cfu/cm2 for the spread plate technique). Bacterial loads
(log10 cfu/cm2) after inoculation on the untreated samples ranged
from 3.27±0.12 (E. coli) to 4.16±0.13 (P. fluorescens). Immediately
after dipping (day 0) such counts (log10 cfu/cm2) varied from 2.21±
0.38 (S. enterica) to 2.87±0.19 (L. monocytogenes) on samples treated
with TSP, from2.16±0.23 (S. enterica) to 2.98±0.16 (B. thermosphacta)
on samples treated with ASC, from1.95±0.09 (P. fluorescens) to 2.80±
0.22 (B. thermosphacta) on samples treated with CA, from 2.87±0.85
(S. aureus) to 3.46±0.18 (P. fluorescens) on samples treated with PA,
and from 3.01±0.03 (E. coli) to 3.86±0.56 (P. fluorescens) on samples
treated with CD. TSP, ASC and CA reduced (Pb0.05) microbial counts,
with regard to control samples, at day 0 of storage. PA or CD showed a
scant antimicrobial effect, and only minimal differences between treated
and control sampleswere observed after the dipping treatments had
been completed.