Abstract
This study used a set of different bacteriophages to control contaminations of Salmonella spp., a major food pathogen. A cocktail of four phages designated based on host range and in vitro lytic assay showed a lower bacteriophage insensitive mutant frequency and considerable stability at 4 °C and 28 °C up to 60 days. The work evaluated the effectiveness of cocktail of four phages in reducing Salmonella spp. in four different food matrices (liquid egg, eggshell, milk, lettuce). A maximum of 1.7 log reduction in Salmonella spp. was achieved upon treatment of liquid eggs with phage cocktail for 72 h at 4 °C. In milk, the application of phage cocktail reduced recoverable Salmonella spp. by 1.9 log and 1.8 log at 28ºC (6 h) and 4ºC (72 h), respectively. A significant 2.9 log reduction of Salmonella spp. was obtained in eggshell after a 6 h incubation and Salmonella spp. was beyond detection level after 24 h at 28ºC. The application of cocktail also reduced Salmonella spp. beyond the detectable level in lettuce after 8 h at 28 °C. Our results indicated considerable stability of phages in different food matrices. Taken together, our findings establish the potential effectiveness of the bacteriophage cocktail as a biocontrol agent for Salmonella spp. in different food matrices.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Department of Biotechnology, Cochin University of Science and Technology for providing all facilities for research. The authors are grateful to Priji Prakashan and Nandita M. for suggestions in the work.
Funding
The work was supported by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Kerala, India through the project F.No.009/SRSHS/2012/CSTE to Dr. Sarita G Bhat.
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S, S.K., Bhat, S.G. In vitro efficiency evaluation of phage cocktail for biocontrol of Salmonella spp. in food products. Arch Microbiol 203, 5445–5452 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-021-02522-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-021-02522-0