Applicability of Nisin and Tumbling to Improve the Microbiological Quality of Marinated Chicken Drumsticks

Meat marination has been applied to improve product's physical and sensory attributes for years, but usually it is not intended to improve microbial quality of the product. Tumbling, which helps the distribution of marinade solution during processing, should enhance the action of antimicrobial agents. The objective of this study is to evaluate the combined effects of nisin, tumbling and storage time on total microflora and psychrotrophs counts on poultry. A marinade that contained acetic acid (1%) and salt (3%) with pH adjusted to 4 was developed as a standardized marinade. Drumsticks were marinated with various nisin levels (0, 50, or 100 IU/ml) combined with tumbling (0, 10, or 20 min), and then stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 18 h. The total microflora and psychrotrophs counts of the samples were evaluated after 0, 2, 4, and 7 days of storage. The results indicated that at a given storage time, the samples tumbled for either 10 or 20 min had significantly (p<0.05) lower microbial counts when compared with the samples without the tumbling treatment. The microbial counts of the tumbled samples increased as storage time increased. Microbial counts significantly (p<0.05) decreased when more nisin was increased up to the level of 100 IU/ml. In conclusion, adding of nisin at the level of 50 IU/ml with tumbling for 10 min decreased the total microflora and psychrotrophs counts of the marinated chicken broiler drumsticks.