Evaluación del efecto antimicrobiano del extracto del chile habanero (Capsicum chinense) utilizado en la producción de salchicha de atún.

Abstract

The use of chemical preservatives in processed foods such as sausages has become a problem because it directly affects the health of consumers. The objective of this project was to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of habanero bell pepper extract in the production of tuna sausage, since it is important to look for alternatives for obtaining a natural preservative; four treatments were evaluated: 0, 5, 10, 15 % of habanero bell pepper extract, three replicates, and the microbial load of the products was determined at zero time. The dose of habanero chili extract was immediately added to each treatment to verify its effectiveness. The microorganisms to be evaluated were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, mesophilic Aerobes and Salmonella spp. and culture media were used for this purpose. The results showed that the specific TH10 treatment containing a 10% concentration of habanero chili was the one that reduced the greatest microbial load against E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, while for mesophilic Aerobes and Salmonella spp. there was no presence of colonies inside the product, a sensory evaluation was carried out where TH10 was more pleasant for the tasters. The physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of this treatment yielded values that complied with Ecuadorian technical standards. The calculated Benefit/Cost was 1.43.