Samples were then rinsed 3 times with 1× PBS to ensure that all unattached
cells had been removed.
A concentrated (5M) stock solution of acetic acid (Merck, Germany)
was diluted in 1× PBS to a concentration of 0.3 M (pH 3.8). Inoculated
chicken components were placed into the diluted acid and were incubated
at 4 °C for 24 h. These incubation conditions were used to
mimic typical commercial or home marination. Salmonella was enumerated
according to Tan et al. (2014). Briefly, inoculated chicken components
were transferred into sterile stomacher bags and 50 ml of
Buffered Peptone Water (BPW; Oxoid, UK) was added to each. Samples
were homogenized for 2 min. Serial decimal dilutions were conducted
and 0.1 ml of appropriate diluted samples was inoculated directly onto
selective plates prepared using the thin agar layer technique. Xylose Lysine
Deoxycholate Agar (XLD; Oxoid, UK) was used as selective medium
and TSA as the non-selective overlay. The plates were counted after incubation
for 24 h and 37 °C and results were recorded as colony forming
units per g (CFU/g)