Isolation and identification of bacteria associated with Lebanese and imported meat and examination of biofilm forming ability of identified bacterial strains at different temperature and PH levels

Abstract

The microbiota and the bacterial load of Lebanese fresh and imported chilled meats were investigated in this study. Imported meat demonstrated higher bacterial load than local meat in terms of mesophilic and psychotrophic bacteria. In addition, when compared to LIBNOR Standards, Lebanese meat was safe to consume while imported meat was unfit to human consumption since total mesophilic count results were exceeding the acceptable microbiological limit. This high bacteria load could be attributed to bad sanitary conditions under which imported meat were handled and kept. Almost all bacteria isolated from local and imported meats were opportunistic human pathogens and some were found common in both types of meat while others were specific for each sample. In addition, the biofilm forming abilities of isolated bacteria were evaluated under conditions mimicking the food contact surfaces and gastrointestinal tract environments. Isolated bacterial species were found to vary widely in their ability to form a biofilm. These variations could be due to differences in the genome or in the genes expression of these bacteria.