The use of bacteriophage cocktails to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in hummus

Isolation, characterization, and application of bacteriophage cocktails for the biocontrol of Pseudomonas fluorescens group strains in whole and skimmed milk

Pseudomonas fluorescens group strains can lead to spoilage of milk as well as loss of quality in dairy products through their heat-resistant enzymes. Phages are important alternatives for combating spoilage bacteria in food industry and used successfully in many applications. The aim of this study was the isolation and characterization of phages and to assess the efficiency of a phage cocktail in whole and skimmed milk. For this purpose, phages effective against Pseudomonas fluorescens (L23.2), Pseudomonas tolaasii (P22.1), and Pseudomonas rhodesiae (A11.1) were isolated. Their host range was found to be highly specific, and the transmission electron micrographs indicates that they belonged to Tectiviridae family. Their genome sizes were found to be vary between 38.3 and 53.5 kb. The latent periods and burst sizes were determined as 15, 10, 15 min and 91, 20, 80 PFU/infected cell for L23.2, P22.1, and A11.1, respectively. All three phages were found to be sensitive to low pH and high temperature. The effect of the phage cocktail was monitored in milk with different fat contents during storage at 4 °C for 5 days. As a result, bacterial reductions up to 4.09 and 5.29 log-units were observed for the whole and skimmed milk, respectively. Thus, the efficacy of a phage cocktail against a bacterial mixture of different P. fluorescens strains was tested in milk samples with different fat contents in accordance with real-life scenarios for the first time.

Control of Salmonella in Chicken Meat by a Phage Cocktail in Combination with Propionic Acid and Modified Atmosphere Packaging

Salmonella contamination in poultry meat is an important food safety issue as this pathogen can lead to serious illness and economic losses worldwide. In poultry meat processing, a variety of strong bacteriostatic agents has been introduced for controlling Salmonella including bacteriophages (phages), organic acids, and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). In our study, two selected phages including vB_SenM_P7 and vB_SenP_P32 were used in combination with propionic acid (PA) and MAP for controlling Salmonella of multiple serovars on chicken meat under storage at 4 °C. The two phages showed strong lytic activity against over 72 serovars of Salmonella tested (25.0 to 80.6%). Phages, vB_SenM_P7 and vB_SenP_P32 showed 40% and 60% survival rates, respectively, after the exposure to temperatures up to 70 °C. Both phages remained active, with nearly 100% survival at a wide range of pH (2 to 12) and 15% NaCl (w/v). The available chlorine up to 0.3% (v/v) led to a phage survival rate of 80-100%. A combination of Salmonella phage cocktail and 0.5% PA could reduce Salmonella counts in vitro by 4 log CFU/mL on day 3 whereas a phage cocktail and 0.25% PA showed a 4-log reduction on day 5 during storage at 4 °C. For the phage treatment alone, a 0.3-log reduction of Salmonella was observed on day 1 of storage at 4 °C. In the chicken meat model, treatment by a phage cocktail and PA at both concentrations in MAP conditions resulted in a complete reduction of Salmonella cells (4-5 log unit/g) on day 2 of storage whereas each single treatment under MAP conditions showed a complete cell reduction on day 4. For the meat sensory evaluation, chicken meat treated with a phage cocktail-PA (0.5%) in MAP condition showed the highest preference scores, suggesting highly acceptability and satisfactory. These findings suggest that a combined treatment using a phage cocktail and PA in MAP conditions effectively control Salmonella in poultry meat during storage at low temperature to improve the quality and safety of food.