Short communicationUse of a lytic bacteriophage to control Salmonella Enteritidis in retail food

- A Salmonella Enteritidis lytic bacteriophage SE07 was isolated from retail meat samples.
- Bacteriophage SE07 is relatively stable within a pH range of 4.0-11.0.
- In chicken meats, Salmonella reduction was 2 log cycles.
- Bacteriophage SE07 could be potential biocontrol agent to improve food safety.

A Salmonella Enteritidis lytic bacteriophage designated as SE07 was isolated from retail meat samples. Electron micrograph revealed that phage SE07 belonged to family Podoviridae. Phage SE07 was relatively stable at the temperature ranging from 28 to 65 °C. Furthermore, it exhibited remarkable pH stability (between pH 4.0-11.0). The effectiveness of phage SE07 was determined in different food matrices (fruit juice, fresh eggs, beef and chicken meat) experimentally contaminated with S. Enteritidis. A significant reduction of S. Enteritidis population (about 2 log cycles) was obtained in fruit juice and fresh eggs after incubation at 4 °C for 48 h. Furthermore, within the same period, bacterial population was reduced by 2.1 and 2.0 log cycles on the bacteriophage treated beef and chicken meat samples, respectively. In this study, the obtained data suggested that phage SE07 might have potential uses against Salmonella food-borne infections.