Post-slaughter poultry meat preservation for sustainable food systems: Mechanisms, microbial safety, shelf-life extension, and emerging preservation strategies.

Post-slaughter handling plays a critical role in determining the quality, microbial safety, and shelf life of poultry meat, yet spoilage and contamination remain persistent challenges for the poultry industry, contributing to food loss and reduced sustainability across the food supply chain. This review synthesizes current knowledge on post-slaughter factors influencing poultry meat deterioration, with emphasis on microbial ecology, spoilage mechanisms, and preservation strategies that enhance food safety and support sustainable food systems. Key processing steps, including scalding, defeathering, evisceration, chilling, packaging, and transport, are identified as major contamination points, where cold-chain integrity strongly governs microbial growth and quality loss. Major spoilage organisms, including Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Brochothrix thermosphacta, Campylobacter, and Salmonella, are discussed in relation to psychrotrophic growth, enzymatic degradation, lipid oxidation, biofilm formation, and volatile compound production. Shelf-life assessment is evaluated using integrated microbiological, chemical (TBARS, TVB-N, VOCs), and sensory indicators, each with inherent limitations, to support effective quality management and minimize product losses. Preservation strategies are categorized into conventional (refrigeration, freezing), biological (lactic acid bacteria, bacteriocins, plant extracts), and advanced systems such as modified atmosphere packaging, vacuum packaging, active and intelligent packaging, and nanotechnology-based approaches. Evidence indicates that multi-hurdle strategies combining complementary interventions provide superior shelf-life extension through synergistic effects on microbial and oxidative stability. Collectively, these preservation strategies have the potential to reduce food loss and waste, improve resource efficiency, and enhance the sustainability of poultry production and food systems while maintaining product quality and safety.