Use of a commercial mixture of volatile compounds from the fungus Muscodor to inhibit Salmonella in ground turkey and beef

Additional interventions to reduce the risk of Salmonella in ground meat products are needed in the industry. Fungi in the genus Muscodor produce an array of volatile compounds with antimicrobial activity. A commercial mixture of these volatile compounds (all considered to be GRAS), in proportions similar to that produced by the fungus, was assessed for its inhibitory activity against Salmonella in vitro. The minimal inhibitory concentration of the volatiles mixture for growth of Salmonella enterica in Mueller-Hinton broth was 0.5% (v/v). Exposure to the vapor phase of the volatile compounds similarly inhibited visible growth of Salmonella on agar (up to 6 cm zone of inhibition). Addition of the volatiles mixture (0.25%-1.0% v/w) inhibited Salmonella by 1.5 and 2.8 log10 CFU in ground turkey (85% or 93% lean, respectively) and 2.2 and 1.7 log10 CFU in ground beef (73% or 93% lean, respectively) during a 5 day period at 8 °C. Addition of the volatiles also inhibited growth of normal microflora on ground turkey at 8 °C by approximately 5.3 log10 CFU. These findings indicate this mixture of volatile compounds retards growth of spoilage organisms and Salmonella in ground meat.