Tracking of spoilage and pathogenic microbes in poultry meat from local retail markets of Jammu

To assess microbiological quality of poultry meat samples were collected from various retail shops of Jammu. Breast meat with skin and without skin was selected for sampling. The aim of this study was: (i) to evaluate standard plate count (SPC), psychrotrophic count (PTC), Enterococcus feacalis count (EFC), Staphylococcus aureus count (SAC) and Escherichia coli count (ECC) and (ii) the presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes; Breast meat with skin samples had higher (P<0.01) SPC, PTC, EFC, and SAC than breast meat without skin. However E.coli was recovered from 72.4% breast meat with skin and 29.6% breast meat without skin samples. The prevalence rate of Salmonella spp. was 8.96% in breast meat with skins, whereas, 2.52% in breast meat without skin sample was found to be positive. L.monocytogenes recovered from breast meat with skin sample (0.92%). These finding suggests that breast meat with skins contain higher microbes and numbers of food pathogens of latent zoonotic importance, thus suggesting the proper maintenance of meat processing plants is of crucial importance.