**1. Introduction**

332 Salmonella – A Dangerous Foodborne Pathogen

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positive and negative bacteria. *Journal of Applied Bacteriol*ogy, 94, 240 247. Wybo I., Wildemauwe C., Godard C., Bertrand S., Collard J.M. (2002). Antimicrobial drug

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(2003). Activity and mechanisms of action of selected biocidal agents on Gram

resistance in nontyphoid human *Salmonella* in Belgium: Trends for the period 2000-

*Salmonella* spp., facultatively anaerobic gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria (Krieg & Holt, 1984), is one of the most important food borne pathogens. If present in food, the bacteria do not affect the taste, smell or appearance of the food. Frequent hand washing, throwing out expired food, avoid eating raw or undercooked eggs, meats, seafood or poultry are the key to preventing *Salmonella* food poisoning. Antibiotics (such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfonamides and tetracycline) may be prescribed for moderate to severe cases of *Salmonella* food poisoning or when it occurs in a person who is at risk for complications. However, probably as a consequence of the extensive use of antibiotics, that the incidence and severity of human diseases related to *Salmonella* caused by antimicrobial resistant *Salmonella* is rising in many countries (Breuil et al., 2000). Furthermore, illness caused by resistant *Salmonella* can be more severe and difficult to control (Oliveira et al., 2006).

Presence of the bacterium *Salmonella* in food and the disease *Salmonella* food poisoning and typhoid fever continue to be a major public health problem worldwide. Millions of human cases are reported worldwide every year and the disease results in thousands of deaths. The increasingly resistance to antibiotics of food borne *Salmonella* (Breuil et al., 2000) drive much of the current interest on plant antimicrobial molecules. At the same time, increasingly consumer demand for more natural products has led to the food industry to consider the incorporation of the natural preservative in a range of products (Dorman & Deans, 2000; Elgayyar et al., 2001). Plants are complex chemical storehouses of undiscovered biodynamic compounds with unrealized potential for use in modern medicine (Plotkin, 1988). Several antimicrobial agents were isolated from plant including secondary metabolites as essential oil, terpenoides, phenols, alkaloids and flavanoids (Kazmi et al., 1994; Cosentino et al., 1999; Omulokoli et al., 1997). An important characteristic of these compounds is their hydrophobicity, which enables them to partition in the lipids of the bacterial cell membrane and mitochondria, disturbing the structures and rendering them more permeable (Burt, 2004). This chapter is undertake in order to investigate inhibitory effect of plant extracts on *Salmonella* spp., including a prevalence and control of *Salmonella* in foods and incidence of antibiotic resistant strains of *Salmonella.* Information on extraction methods and phytochemical compositions of medicinal plants can be found in this chapter. The current knowledge on potential of plant extracts for antibacterial activity against *Salmonella* spp. and its application in food processing or packaging will be discussed.

Inhibitory Effect of Plant Extracts on Salmonella spp. 335

and *S. virchow*: 0.7%, respectively) isolated from humans (EFSA, 2010c). The *S. soa* has rarely been reported to be isolated from poultry in Australia, which the very low prevalence of *Salmonella* food poisoning linked to *S. soa* suggests low virulence for humans (Duffy et al., 2011). A large percentage of poultry is colonized by salmonellas during grow-out, and the skin and meat of carcasses are frequently contaminated by the pathogen during slaughter and processing. In Brazil, the remarkable increase in the incidence of *S. enteritidis* from foodborne outbreaks, human infections, nonhuman sources, broiler carcasses and other poultry materials has been reported since the 1990s (Peresi et al., 1998; Fuzihara et al., 2000; Tavechio et al., 2002). Of the 281 chicken meat samples in Austria, 46 were positive for the occurrence of *Salmonella* (prevalence of 16.4%) as described by Mayrhofer et al., 2004.

One route of *Salmonella* transmission is via raw/unpasteurized milk and products made from raw milk (e.g. cheese) (Cody 1999). In a 2000 study of New York dairy herds, *Salmonella* were isolated from 1.5 percent of 404 milk filters. *Salmonella* contamination of bulk milk most likely occurs through fecal contamination, and mitigation through improved hygiene practices may be possible (Karns et al., 2005). Consumption of cheese contaminated with the mentioned pathogens can lead to serious health problems, which the outbreaks of *Salmonella* spp. in Mozzarella cheese can be seen since 1981 in Italy and USA (De Buyser et al., 2001). In 1985, D'Aoust et al. found that *S. typhimurium* was linked to Canadian

A recent *Salmonella* outbreak is also occur with other food products (Waite & Yousef, 2010). In United States, Columbia and Canada in 2008, there are estimated more than 1000 case of *Salmonella* food poisoning outbreaks by *S. saintpaul* in raw tomatoes, fresh cilantro, fresh jalapeno peppers and fresh Serrano peppers, whereas in 2007, the foodborne outbreaks was found in peanut butter, frozen pot pie and puffed vegetable snack in United States and boxed lunch in Japan. Other fruit product such as fruit salad and orange juice has been

High temperatures used in cooking and in pasteurization processes have been regarded as the treatment of choice for the destruction of *Salmonella* in eggs, milk and meat products. Humphrey et al. (1980) showed that to kill *Salmonella* present in the egg yolk, the yolk temperature had to be raised to >8O°C. Boiling for over 6 to 10 min was required inactivate approximately 107 cfu *S. enteritidis* in the yolk of shell eggs, depending on the method of boiling (Chantarapanont et al., 2000). Kuo et al. (1997) determined that UV radiation significantly reduced *S. typhimurium* inoculated on shell eggs. Directional microwave technology resulted in more than 2-log reduction of *S. enteritidis* in shell eggs without causing any detrimental effects to quality reviewed by Lakins et al. (2008). The effectiveness of steam treatments on meat and poultry has been investigated, which the presence of a number of pathogens may be reduced by the application of steam to meat surfaces, mostly gram negative enteric pathogens, such as *Escherichia coli* O157:H7 and a number of

foodborne outbreaks associated with the consumption of Cheddar cheese.

associated with occasional outbreaks of *Salmonella* food poisoning.

**2.4** *Salmonella* **in milk** 

**2.5** *Salmonella* **in other food** 

**3. Control of** *Salmonella* **in foods** 
