Antibacterial Activity of Commercially Available Plant Extracts on Selected Campylobacter jejuni Strains

Campylobacter jejuni causes over 99% of the foodborne infections associated with Campylobacter in the United States. This study involves evaluation of commercially available plant extracts of oregano, green tea, hawthorn and curcumin against four isolates of C. jejuni. Initial studies were first carried out in broth cultures to determine the general effectiveness of the extracts. The study then was carried out on chicken breast meat to determine the effect of the plant extracts in marinades. Cell counts were determined at intervals of 0, 2, 6 and 24 hours and bacterial viability was determined using different concentrations of the above extracts. Both oregano and green tea extracts were found to be antibacterial even at low concentrations in broth cultures and killed all bacteria in 24 hours. But as marinades on chicken breast meat, the extracts were found to be effective only at higher concentrations. No significant differences were found in the antibacterial effects of the extracts on different C. jejuni strains. These results demonstrate that commercially available plant extracts such as oregano and green tea have potential to reduce and/or eliminate C. jejuni in chicken meat.