title: Use of a bacteriophage cocktail to control Salmonella in food and the food industry.
abstract: The use of lytic bacteriophages for the biocontrol of food-borne pathogens in food and in the food industry is gaining increasing acceptance. In this study, the effectiveness of a bacteriophage cocktail composed of three different lytic bacteriophages (UAB_Phi 20, UAB_Phi78, and UAB_Phi87) was determined in four different food matrices (pig skin, chicken breasts, fresh eggs, and packaged lettuce) experimentally contaminated with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and S. enterica serovar Enteritidis. A significant bacterial reduction (>4 and 2 log/cm(2) for S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis, respectively; p≤0.005) was obtained in pig skin sprayed with the bacteriophage cocktail and then incubated at 33 °C for 6h. Significant decreases in the concentration of S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis were also measured in chicken breasts dipped for 5 min in a solution containing the bacteriophage cocktail and then refrigerated at 4 °C for 7 days (2.2 and 0.9 log10 cfu/g, respectively; p≤0.0001) as well as in lettuce similarly treated for 60 min at room temperature (3.9 and 2.2 log10 cfu/g, respectively; p≤0.005). However, only a minor reduction of the bacterial concentration (0.9 log10 cfu/cm(2) of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium; p≤0.005) was achieved in fresh eggs sprayed with the bacteriophage cocktail and then incubated at 25 °C for 2 h. These results show the potential effectiveness of this bacteriophage cocktail as a biocontrol agent of Salmonella in several food matrices under conditions similar to those used in their production.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès (Bellaterra), Barcelona, Spain. denispricigo@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Denis Augusto
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Spricigo
authors.forename: Carlota
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bardina
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cortés
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Llagostera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000502:physiology*; D004531:Eggs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000379:methods*; D018545:Lactuca / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D012477:Salmonella enteritidis / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D013552:Swine