The fate of two Listeria monocytogenes serotypes in “cig kofte” at different storage temperatures

Cig kofte is a traditional Turkish food prepared from minced beef, bulgur, onions, garlic and varieties of spices. It is generally consumed within a few hours. However, leftovers can be kept in refrigerator or in room temperature up to 24 h until they are consumed. In this study, survival and growth of two Listeria monocytogenes serotypes were investigated in cig kofte during the storage. For this purpose, the prepared samples were separately contaminated with serotypes 1/2b or 4b of L. monocytogenes at the level of 104 CFU/g and stored at 4 °C and 21 °C. L. monocytogenes colonies were counted at the beginning, 3rd, 6th, 12th and 24th hours of the storage. At 4 °C, L. monocytogenes 4b significantly increased (P < 0.05) from 4.12 to 5.49 log10 CFU/g but L. monocytogenes 1/2b remained constant (P > 0.05) during the storage period. At 21 °C, both L. monocytogenes 1/2b and 4b increased significantly (P < 0.05) from 4.56 to 5.16 log10 CFU/g and from 4.23 to 5.65 log10 CFU/g, respectively. The physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of the cig kofte did not inhibit the growths of L. monocytogenes serotypes during the storage. These results indicated that L. monocytogenes was able to survive and grow in cig kofte at the both storage temperatures of 4 °C and 21 °C and cig kofte seemed to be a suitable medium for this pathogen.