Assessing the effectiveness of garlic (Allium sativum) and korarima (Aframomum corrorima) against Salmonella spp. and E. coli isolates in beef.

This exploratory in-situ treatment study assessed the effectiveness of garlic (Allium sativum) and korarima (Aframomum corrorima) against Salmonella spp. and E. coli isolates from beef in Haramaya town, Eastern Ethiopia. The isolates were prepared at a 7.86 log CFU/g concentration and injected into 100 g of minced meat, followed by inoculation with 1%, 5%, and 10% w/w concentrations of garlic and korarima powders. Both the treatment and control groups were kept at room temperature (22–25 °C) for one, twenty-four, and forty-eight hours. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to present the data. The garlic-treated E. coli decreased by 0.76 log CFU/g for one hour, 1.47 log CFU/g for twenty-four hours, and 1.86 log CFU/g for forty-eight hours. Moreover, garlic decreased Salmonella spp. by 0.84 log CFU/g for one hour, 1.04 log CFU/g for twenty-four hours, and 1.11 log CFU/g for forty-eight hours. Korarima powder alone or in combination with garlic showed minimal effects on bacterial load between the treated and untreated groups. The log CFU/g was lower for garlic at 10% and 1% w/w (6.666 ± 0.482 and 7.295 ± 0.163, respectively) than for korarima (7.848 ± 0.044 and 8.006 ± 0.043, respectively) for E. coli, while the value for Salmonella was (7.662 vs. 8.323) at 1%, (7.346 vs. 8.139) at 5%, and (7.064 vs. 8.201) at 10%. In conclusion, adding garlic to beef can help reduce the amount of Salmonella spp. and E. coli present in meat when stored naturally at room temperature. Spice-based preservatives can be a good addition to meat microbial safety interventions in low-resource settings.