RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Time of UV-C Exposure in Inoculated Chicken Meat
Our data demonstrated that the increase on the UV-C intensity and the exposure time promoted an increase on the bacterial log reduction (Table 1). All intensities tested for 90 and 120 s increased (P < 0.05) the log reduction on Salmonella spp. inoculated on chicken meat. Despite the limited capacity to penetrate the product surface, UV-C is a feasible germicidal technology to reduce pathogenic bacteria (Guerrero-Beltrán and Barbosa-Cánovas, 2004). Our results are in agreement with Sommers et al. (2010), who reported a log reduction between 0.4 and 0.6 of Salmonella spp. using 2 to 4 J/cm2 doses in boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken drumsticks. In addition, Haughton et al. (2011) documented that chicken meat irradiated with UV-C at 6 mW/cm2 for 32 s exhibited a reduction of 1.34 log cfu/g of Salmonella Enteritidis. Nonetheless, Wallner-Pendleton, Sumner, Froning and Stetson (1994) irradiated broiler whole carcasses with UV-C irradiation and reported a reduction of 0.5 log cfu/g of Salmonella Typhimurium using 82.5 mW/cm2 for 60 s. Based on the results from trial 1 (Table 1), 90 s of exposure time was the most efficient irradiation duration.