Project Grant 20216701833440

The University of Connecticut was awarded a $455,000 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The five-year grant will fund research to develop plant-based drinking water supplements for controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni colonization in broiler chickens. The university will combine the antimicrobial efficacy of plant-derived compounds with novel carrier systems to create stable plant-based emulsions that can be administered in poultry drinking water to kill the pathogens in the gut. As part of the grant, the University of Connecticut will collaborate with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service to complete broiler chicken studies investigating the effect of phytochemicals on Campylobacter infection over 14 and 42 day periods. The studies will provide insight on reducing foodborne illness risks by preventing pathogen contamination during poultry production.