Ready-to-Eat Meat Microbiota with and without propidium monoazide treatment

Molecular-based microbiological approaches are limited in their ability to differentiate DNA based on cellular viability. In food manufacturing, intervention strategies such as thermal processing or antimicrobial application are often used to improve food safety by reducing the overall microbial population on the product. In these situations, the inability to distinguish between viable and non-viable cellular DNA may result in the false identification of pathogenic microorganisms and/or the misinterpretation of the viable microbial community. The goal of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of 16S rRNA gene sequencing with and without propidium monoazide treatment to identify potential sources of contamination and microbial shifts during the manufacturing of a commercial ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product. PMA treatment provided a higher level of sequencing resolution and revealed an additional shift in the microbial community after slicing, that the Control group did not.