Bioactive berry juice byproducts as alternative and natural inhibitors forSalmonella Gallinarum andSalmonella Pullorum

Fowl typhoid and pullorum disease, caused bySalmonella enterica serovars Gallinarum biovarsSalmonella Gallinarum (S. Gallinarum) andSalmonella Pullorum (S. Pullorum), remain large threat to the organic poultry industry. These infections are serious threats to poultry health and overall flock viability especially at their early age. These avian pathogens cause a significant production loss and price increase of poultry products especially organic poultry products due to lack of antibiotics use. As a result, alternative intervention strategies have become an urgent demand of the farmers. Natural antimicrobials from plant products, such as bioactive compounds from berry juice byproducts can play important role in such a situation. In this study, we showed that blackberry and blueberry pomace extracts inhibitedS. Gallinarum andS. Pullorum growth in vitro. Two mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/mL blackberry or blueberry pomace extract reduced the growth of both pathogens by more than 5 logs at 24 h in broth. In semisolid poultry fecal medium, which contains poultry gut nutrients available to the gut bacteria, 1.0 mg GAE/mL of both extracts reduced the growth of these pathogens by more than 2 logs at 24, 48, and 72-h time points.S. Gallinarum andS. Pullorum were completely inhibited by 1.0 mg GAE/mL both extracts in water. The growth of probioticLactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) was unaffected in the presence of berry pomace extracts in broth but growth stimulation was observed in fecal medium when grown in presence of these extracts at 72 h. Moreover,L. plantarum completely inhibitedS. Gallinarum andS. Pullorum when co-cultured in fecal medium in the presence of 1.0 mg GAE/mL of both pomace extracts. In this study, we conclude that bioactive extracts from berry pomace are potential antimicrobials for organic producers which will modulate poultry gut microflora and improve productivity, product safety, and quality.