Active Packaging of Immobilized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Controls Campylobacter jejuni in Raw Chicken Meat.

Active Packaging of Immobilized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Controls Campylobacter jejuni in Raw Chicken Meat. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2020 Sep 04;: Authors: Hakeem MJ, Feng J, Nilghaz A, Ma L, Seah HC, Konkel ME, Lu X Abstract Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are regarded as a safe and stable antimicrobial that can inactivate bacteria by several potential working mechanisms. We aimed to include ZnO NPs into the packaging material to control Campylobacter in raw chicken meat. ZnO NPs were first incorporated into 3D paper tubes to identify the lethal concentration against C. jejuni, which was selected as the working concentration to develop 2D functionalized absorbing pads by ultrasound-assisted dipping technique. The functionalized pad was placed underneath raw chicken meat to inactivate C. jejuni and the predominant chicken microbiota at 4°C within 8 d of storage. Immobilized ZnO NPs at 0.856 mg/cm2 reduced C. jejuni from ∼4 log CFU/25 g raw chicken meat to an undetectable level after 3 d of storage. Analysis by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy showed that the Zn level increased from 0.02 to 0.17 mg/cm2 in treated raw chicken meat. Scanning electron microscopy validated the absence of nanoparticle migration onto raw chicken meat after treatment. Inactivation of C. jejuni was associated with the increase of lactic acid produced by Lactobacillus in raw chicken meat in a pH-dependent manner. Less than 5% of Zn...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research