Physicochemical characterization of ten newly isolated phages against the foodborne pathogen Shigella flexneri

AQUILI, V.; GONZÁLEZ, A.; QUIBERONI, A.; TOMAT, D.; CASABONNE, C.

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2022 vol. 46

0145-8892

Ten bacteriophages with lytic activity against Shigella flexneri were tested fortheir resistance to physicochemical conditions found in food matrices. Phage viabilityand activity were evaluated at different temperatures, pH values and NaClconcentrations. In addition, challenge tests with each individual phage againstATCC12022 were conducted to evaluate their use as biocontrol agents. Althoughphages showed high resistance up to 60°C, Shi30, Shi33 and Shi93 showed higherthermal resistance (70°C). The ten phages endured pH treatments, being more resistantto alkaline conditions. The NaCl concentrations evaluated showed no significantinfluence on phage counts. Furthermore, challenge tests against ATCC12022 resulted insignificant CFU mL-1 reductions. The results showed that the phages evaluated wereresistant to a wide range of temperatures and pH and to all the concentrations of NaCltested. Therefore, the phages evaluated in this study could potentially be used withbiocontrol purposes in various food matrices prior further characterization.