Rapid detection of Salmonella in raw chicken breast using real-time PCR combined with immunomagnetic separation and whole genome amplification

•Rapid detection of Salmonella from raw chicken breast with no or shortened culture enrichment.•High sensitivity with LOD at ∼10 CFU/g without culture enrichment and ∼0.1 CFU/g with a 4 h culture enrichment.•Affordable assays by adding less than $10/sample to conventional real-time PCR.

We presented the first attempt to combine immunomagnetic separation (IMS), whole genome amplification by multiple displacement amplification (MDA) and real-time PCR for detecting a bacterial pathogen in a food sample. This method was effective in enabling real-time PCR detection of low levels of Salmonella enterica Serotype Enteritidis (SE) (∼10 CFU/g) in raw chicken breast without culture enrichment. In addition, it was able to detect refrigeration-stressed SE cells at lower concentrations (∼0.1 CFU/g) in raw chicken breast after a 4-h culture enrichment, shortening the detection process from days to hours and displaying no statistical difference in detection rate in comparison with a culture-based detection method. By substantially improving performance in SE detection over conventional real-time PCR, we demonstrated the potential of IMS-MDA real-time PCR as a rapid, sensitive and affordable method for detecting Salmonella in food.