Staphylococcus aureus is considered an emerging microorganism in food security. The public health importance of the isolated Staphylococcus aureus and effect of benzoic acid on this isolate as well as the suggested measures for improving the quality and increasing the shelf life of some chicken meat products were discussed. Seventy-five random samples of chicken meat products represented by chicken luncheon, chicken frankfurter and chicken nuggets (25 of each) were collected from different shops and retail markets in Alexanderia city. All samples were examined bacteriologically, and the results revealed that the greatest ratio of Staphylococcus aureus was 44% in chicken luncheon samples followed by chicken frankfurter 32% and chicken nuggets 28%. Reduction of Staphylococcus aureus in inoculated chicken nuggets samples by using benzoic acid as organic antimicrobials (chemically classified as General Recognized as safe (GRAS) on inoculated chicken nuggets samples by immersion with different concentration (0.1%, 0.5% and 1%) for 30 seconds; 1 and 2 minutes. The degree of inhibition increases as the acid concentration and time of immersion in acid increased. Moreover, by using multiplex PCR for molecular detection of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin genes from confirmed 10 Staphylococcus aureus isolates and the results revealed that 9 strains were positive for four enterotoxin production genes for (Sea, Seb, Sec and See) with different ratio and negative for (Sed).
Key words: Staph. aureus, benzoic acid, chicken meat products, PCR, enterotoxins.
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