Inhibition of Selected Microorganisms in Marinated Chicken by Pimento Leaf Oil and Clove Oleoresin

Fresh skin-on and bone-in chicken breast were marinated with solutions containing 0.2 and 0.5% clove oleoresin (CLO) and pimento leaf oil (PLO) by soaking or immersion for 1 hr and by injection marination. The antimicrobial activity of these spices at two storage temperatures (4 and 12°C) was investigated against Listeria monocytogenes, pseudomonads, yeasts, and psychrotrophs that were either inoculated on the chicken breast surface or part of the natural bioburden. In general, 0.5% CLO and 0.5% PLO significantly (P<.05) inhibited the pseudomonads. The total yeast counts were significantly (P<.05) reduced by 0.2% PLO. Populations were reduced by approximately 0.5 to >2.0 logs for some treatments at 4°C even after one week of storage. This, however, was not observed for those kept at 12° since the samples started spoiling at approximately 4 days of storage. None of the treatments showed significant activity against L. monocytogenes.