Researchers Use 100% Natural Antimicrobial with Potential Application in Chicken Meat

Maria Luiza De Grandi, journalist, Ciência Rural, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

Mayka Reghiany Pedrão, Department of Food Technology, Universidade Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil

Chicken meat is widely consumed in Brazil and around the world, mainly due to its nutritional quality, wide availability, and better cost-benefit compared to other types of animal protein. However, the consumer market is increasingly looking for foods with reduced levels of chemical additives.

Researchers from the Universidade Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR) sought to study the feasibility of a new natural preservation method for mechanically separated meat (MSM). The article Antimicrobial potential produced by Hansenulawingei (HW) in mechanically separated chicken meat (MSM), published in Ciência Rural (vol.54, no. 4, 2024), had as its main objective to obtain antimicrobials from the HW yeast and apply them to meat products.

Image: Pixabay.

To achieve their objectives, the researchers selected a strain of Hansenula wingei, a yeast known for producing killer toxin that has potential antimicrobial action in different types of food, but until then had not been tested on meat. The laboratory tests were carried out in two phases.

The results indicated the possible application of the yeast’s metabolites as antimicrobials in the production and preservation of meat and meat products. According to researcher Mayka Reghiany Pedrão, “the central idea of the research is innovation in the sector using natural products to focus on the so-called ‘Clean Label’ labels”. The major innovation of the study is the use of a 100% natural antimicrobial that may be approved by MAPA (the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock) in the future, according to Pedrão.

To read the article, access

ALMEIDA, B.S., et al. Antimicrobial potential produced by Hansenulawingei and its use in mechanically deboned chicken meat. Cienc. Rural [online]. 2024, vol. 54, no. 4, e20230038 [viewed 15 January 2025]. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20230038. Available from: https://www.scielo.br/j/cr/a/H4rXyKHQWH9FtBwgPFbmQPf

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