Gaseous ozone application on microbial properties of broiler feeds

Abstract

Ozone is generally used for preservation and disinfection in many different areas, especially in the food, chemical industry, and health sector due to decompose into oxygen and leave no residue. In this study, the impacts of ozone application on the microbiological of commercially produced broiler feeds were investigated. For this purpose, Aspergillus niger NRRL 326 was introduced into the starter, grower, and finisher diets. Then the effects of gaseous ozone application at different doses (0.9 and 5.6 g h−1) and durations (15 and 30 min) were investigated. A. niger and total mould-yeast numbers were decreased in the feed samples as a result of the ozone application and statistically, a significant difference was found (p < .05). In this study, ozone dose, duration, and their interactions were found to be effective on the decrease of mould-yeast counts in all treated broiler feeds. However, the effect of ozone was higher on pelleted form feeds (grower and finisher). It might be concluded that the disinfection properties of ozone can change according to the physical and chemical structure of feed material and the surface area which contact with ozone.