title: Survival of experimentally induced Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts in vacuum packed goat meat and dry fermented goat meat sausages.
abstract: Ingestion of raw or undercooked meat is a potential source of human toxoplasmosis. The aim of this study was to determine the viability of Toxoplasma gondii cysts in vacuum packed (VP) goat meat and in dry fermented sausages (DFS), and evaluate certain physical and chemical parameters, like water activity (aw), pH value, content of salt, dry matter and fat. A portion of muscle tissue from experimentally infected animals was used for production of VP meat with or without addition of 2.5% curing salt, and stored at 4 °C or at -20 °C. Results of bioassay showed that, samples of vacuum packed Toxoplasma positive meat without salt addition were alive after six weeks at 4 °C. Incubation at -20 °C supported the viability after 3 h, but not after 4 h. After 7 days in 2.5% of curing salt, samples of T. gondii VP goat meat were still viable, but not after 14 days at 4 °C. All the DFS samples were not positive for infective cysts which mean that, they do not pose a risk of T. gondii transmission. These data suggest that vacuum packaging increases the survival of T. gondii cysts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: hneu.vfu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neumayerová
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juránková
authors.affiliation: Department of Meat Hygiene and Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Alena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saláková
authors.affiliation: Department of Meat Hygiene and Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gallas
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology and Diagnostics, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kovařčík
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Břetislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koudela
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D018857:Food Packaging; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis / Q000469:parasitology*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis / Q000469:parasitology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D014618:Vacuum
keywords: Dry fermented sausage; Survival; Tissue cyst; Toxoplasma gondii; Vacuum packaging