Analysis of microbiota in chicken carcasses

The chicken is a popular meat in many countries. The microbiota on chicken can be a source of foodborne illness by cross-contamination during the handling process. Therefore, we analyzed the microbiome on raw chicken meat to understand the potential risk of foodborne illness and manage products better. A total of 80 samples were collected from four different butcheries and packing products of four different companies in South Korea. The microbiota was analyzed by Illumina Miseq system, and the amount of bacteria was quantified by real-time PCR. Proteobacteria was the predominant in January, and Firmicutes was predominant in July. The composition of microbiota in meat was different by region of butchery, packing company, and seasons. In addition, we analyzed the influence of Salmonella Virchow infection on the microbiome of meat by artificial infection experiments. The amounts and proportions of Salmonella increased at 27 °C and the increase of infected Salmonella was higher in washing raw meat than non-washing raw meat. The composition and functional gene profiles of the microbiome were different by storage temperature and time after infection. The detected virulence genes in chicken were related to Salmonella in infected samples, whereas it was related to Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and Pseudomonas fragi in non-infected samples. Although further studies are necessary to classify these results, our results can help to understand foodborne illness by chicken meat and manage products.