The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of near-neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) (100 and 200 µg/ml), peroxyacetic acid (PAA) (200 and 400 µg/ml), and their combination (NEW 100 µg/ml + PAA 200 µg/ml) on microbial quality, pH, TBARS value, and sensory quality of fresh chicken breast meat dipped into the solutions for 10 min at room temperature. Meat samples were tested immediately after treatments and on days 2, 4, and 6 of storage at 4℃. All treatments were effective in reducing microbial populations throughout the storage (P < 0.05), with combined treatment showing the strongest antimicrobial activity. On the sixth day of storage, the aerobic plate counts, psychrophilic plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, and Pseudomonas counts in the NEW 100 µg/ml + PAA 200 µg/ml group were 1.33, 1.40, 1.45, 1.01, and 1.45 log CFU/g, respectively, which was lower than the control group (P < 0.05). In all treatments, the pH value of meat samples increased with storage time. During 6 days of storage, PAA400 group had the lowest increase in pH value (P < 0.05). On day 6, the combined treatment and PAA 400 µg/ml had the lowest lipid oxidation (P < 0.05). On day 6, the NEW100 + PAA200 group obtained the highest score in sensory attributes compared to other treatment groups (P < 0.05). According to the microbial and chemical analysis, the combined treatment of NEW and PAA can be a promising method to extend the shelf life of chicken by about 2 days at 4℃. Also, these compounds do not contain any harmful residues in chicken breast meat and their use is recommended in decontamination of poultry meat.

This study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of near-neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) and peroxyacetic acid (PAA) alone and in combination for reducing the foodborne pathogens Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes in pure culture and fresh chicken meat. The NEW treatments resulted in 100% inactivation of these organisms in pure culture at concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 μg/mL and 2 min of contact time at room temperature. The PAA treatments at concentrations of 100 and 200 μg/mL resulted in 100% inactivation of the tested pathogens. The combination of NEW and PAA had a greater bactericidal effect than did each individual treatment. The inoculated chicken meat samples were dipped for 10 min in each treatment solutions (100 and 200 μg/mL NEW, 200 and 400 μg/mL PAA, 100 μg/mL NEW + 200 μg/mL PAA) at room temperature. Samples dipped in water were used as a control. The greatest reduction was achieved with the combined treatment, which significantly (P < 0.05) reduced total cells and healthy cells of Salmonella Typhimurium, E. coli, and L. monocytogenes by 2.79 and 3.01, 2.63 and 2.75, and 1.47 and 1.99 log CFU/g, respectively. The findings of this study indicate that a combined treatment with NEW and PAA has potential as a novel antimicrobial agent to improve the microbial safety of fresh chicken meat.