In vitro efficiency evaluation of phage cocktail for biocontrol of Salmonella spp. in food products.

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.