Modeling the reduction of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in ground chicken meat by high pressure processing and trans-cinnamaldehyde

As the consumption of poultry continues to increase, actions are needed to strengthen food safety approaches against contamination with the pathogens of concern, e.g., Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. This study applied response surface methodology (RSM) using a central composite design to investigate the effect of pressure (266–434 MPa), processing time (3.3–11.7 min), and trans-cinnamaldehyde (tCinn, 0.016–0.084%, w/w) on reducing Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in ground chicken meat. It was observed that tCinn had no impact alone, but only in combination with high-pressure treatments. A five-log reduction of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes was achieved at [375 MPa, 8.5 min, 0.07% tCinn] and at [375 MPa, 8.0 min, 0.05% tCinn], respectively, as specified by RSM and verified by experiments. During subsequent storage, both pathogens remained stable for 9 days at 4 °C, but were able to grow at 10 °C. The developed linear regression models showed R2 of 0.9 and 0.94 for Salmonella reduction and L. monocytogenes reduction, respectively. The developed dimensionless nonlinear regression models showed F value of 306.9 and 692.1 for Salmonella reduction and L. monocytogenes reduction, respectively, with probability Pr > F ( F (