RAPID DETECTION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN GROUND TURKEY BY IMMUNOMAGNETIC SEPARATION AND POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in packaged fresh ground turkey in Turkey using immunomagnetic separation (IMS) as a selective enrichment step in method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 180 ground turkey samples were collected during a 1-year period. Thirty-two (17.7%) of the samples contained L. monocytogenes, 24 (13.3%) contained Listeria innocua, 7 (3.8%) had Listeria ivanovii and 5 (2.7%) had Listeria seeligeri by means of IMS-based cultivation method. A PCR assay was performed, based on hlyA gene-specific primers. In all L. monocytogenes isolates, hlyA gene was confirmed, indicating that the correlation between IMS-based cultivation and PCR methods was 100%. The results suggest that the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in ground turkey is relatively high in Turkey and that ground turkey should be produced under appropriate hygienic and technological conditions for the prevention of public health hazards.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Using fast and reliable methods to detect and identify foodborne pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes , is important to detect the risk of contaminated product and protect public health. In some ways it is time-consuming to isolate and identify the pathogenic microorganisms from food products using conventional techniques. Different methods or techniques can be used both for redounding the isolation chance and to gain time for this purpose. Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques are effective and rapid methods for separation, detection and confirmation of Listeria spp. from foods. In this study rapid, specific and sensitive IMS method was used to determine the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in fresh ground turkey and PCR technique was used for the verification of the L. monocytogenes isolates.