Improving livestock feed safety and infection prevention: Removal of bacterial contaminants from hay using cold water, bubbles and ultrasound

Ultrasonics Sonochemistry

Charles W. Keevil¹  Thomas J. Secker²  Timothy G. Leighton²  Christian Cox³  Weng Yee Chong³ 

[1] Corresponding author at: Environmental Healthcare Unit, School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building 85, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.;Environmental Healthcare Unit, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom;Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom;

关键词: Ultrasonic cleaning;    Acoustic cavitation;    Hay;    Feed safety;    Infection prevention;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The ingestion of contaminated hay is detrimental to livestock wellbeing. In this study, the feasibility of using an ultrasonically activated stream (UAS) to clean bacterial contamination from hay was investigated. Hay samples were stained with SYTO-9 nucleic acid stain for the in-situ visualization of microbes on the surface using an episcopic differential interference contrast microscope coupled with epi-fluorescence. The total microbial load per sample was calculated by measuring the mean percentage area of SYTO-9 positive staining. The cleaning efficacy was evaluated by comparing the total microbial coverage before and after cleaning. The cleaning performance between an UAS and a non UAS were compared and results have shown that an exposure of 60 s to an UAS demonstrated an 87.94 ± 2.22% removal of the bacterial contaminants, exceeding that of non UAS (21.85 ± 13.63% removal). UAS is capable of removing bacterial contaminants without the use of antimicrobial agents, therefore its cleaning mechanism can potentially prevent infection and reduce antimicrobial resistance. The cleaning mechanism of UAS can be adapted for the development of a new hay cleaning strategy for effective removal of bacterial contaminant to improve feed safety.

【 授权许可】

Unknown