Abstract
Meat quality is influenced by the slaughter of animals, especially the hygiene conditions in which killing is carried out.
During slaughter, sheep carcasses can become contaminated with microorganisms directly by blowing air during evisceration and storage.
The study was conducted on 80 samples of lamb carcasses and 40 muscle samples from regions of adult sheep. We perfomed qualitive and quantitative bacteriological examination. The purpose of this study was to show the dergee of bacteriological contamination of surface and profile of adult sheep and lamb carcasses, obtained at the slaughterhouse. Samples were colected from the cervical region, chest, and of the external biceps femoris muscles from the lambs carcasses (after evisceration and cold storage) by swabbing an area of 100 cm2, with a sterile gauze pad that has been moistened with peptone water.
Samples from adult sheep were collected from the biceps femoris inside muscles (after skinning and before chiling) by cutting a 1 cm3 surfaces using a sterile scalpel.
For lambs, depending on the region housing, NTG ranged from 5.6 to 6.5 log cfu/cm2 after evisceration and from 3.1 to 4.3 log cfu/cm2 after chilling. Bacteriological profile was represented by changes in Gram - and Gram + strains. Gram - strains detected are: 82% coliforms, 43% E. coli, 37% Proteus spp and 29% Pseudomonas spp.
Gram + strains detected are: Staphylococcus spp, Bacillus and Clostridium spp.
For adult sheep, in different medias culture were developed: coliforms (Enterobacteriaceae lactose- positive, Enterobacteriaceae lactose- negative), colonies of Clostridium perfringens and colonies of Lysteria monocytogenes.
