title: Antimicrobial activity of salmon extracts derived from traditional First Nations smoke processing.
abstract: Freshly caught salmon were hot smoked with the traditional smoke processing methods of the Tl'azt'en and Lheidli T'enneh First Nations communities, producing both half-smoked and fully smoked food products. To ascertain the nature of antimicrobial effects related to the smoking process,  the residue content of 16 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and total PAHs of smoked products were determined and correlated with smoking process duration. When compared with fully smoked samples, partially smoked fish had significantly less total PAHs and were composed solely of low-molecular-weight  components, with phenanthrene, acenaphthylene, and napthlalene, respectively, being the most abundant. In contrast, fully smoked products possessed significantly higher levels of low- and high-molecular-weight PAHs, including benzo[a]pyrene. Sequential extractions of water, ethyl acetate,  and hexane were performed to identify antimicrobial activity imparted by the traditional smoking process. No activity was observed in water or ethyl acetate extractions, whereas hexane extracts were inhibitory to Staphylococcus aureus, with more inhibition observed in fully smoked samples  when compared with partially smoked samples. This study provides evidence that traditional smoke processing methods used by First Nations communities can provide value toward producing food products that have extended shelf lives, and protect against a prevalent common pathogen easily transmitted by humans to processed food through direct contact.
authors.affiliation: Food, Nutrition, and Health, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia, 2205 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Xiu-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lili R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Mesak
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Kitts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012474:Salmon; D017747:Seafood / Q000032:analysis*; D012906:Smoke
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012906:Smoke