Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Bio-Sanitization Using Specific Bacteriophages to Control Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Cherry Tomatoes
1M.E.S. Lopez, 2M.T.P. Gontijo, 3L.S. Batalha and 3R.C.S. Mendonca
1Departamento de Ingenieria de Alimentos, Universidad de Cordoba, Monteria 230002, Colombia
2Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Avenida Peter Henry Rolfs s/n Campus Universitario, Vicosa 36570000
3Departamento de Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Avenida Peter Henry Rolfs s/n Campus Universitario, Viçosa 36570000, Brazil
Advance Journal of Food Science and Technology 2018 SPL:92-101
Received: September 14, 2017 | Accepted: January 25, 2018 | Published: November 10, 2018
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the use of bacteriophages as “bio-sanitizers” to prevent and to control E. coli O157:H7 growth in cherry tomatoes. Phages with specificity towards this pathogen were propagated, titrated and characterized through transmission electron microscopy and it was also determined the feasibility of the isolated phages after the sanitization process for further application on the tomatoes. Furthermore, the in vitro behavior of E. coli O157:H7 in the presence or absence of the viral particles and the lytic spectrum of the isolated phages were also determined. Moreover, the action of a pool of bacteriophages and some chemical sanitizers commonly used in the food industry were compared in terms of the growth of E. coli O157:H7 and their potential as life extending agents was evaluated for tomatoes stored at room temperature. Bacteriophages reached high concentrations, ranging from 109 to 1014 PFU/mL and were predominantly specific for the Escherichia genus, showing no lytic activity for Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter and Enterococcus. Bacteriophages were classified within the Myoviridae family and presented viability after the sanitization processes with sodium dichloroisocyanurate and hydrogen peroxide. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the sanitizing action of the pool of bacteriophages and the chemical sanitizers in the growth of E. coli O157:H7. Through in vitro assays, we found that bacteriophages substantially reduce microbial growth and, thus, showed potential as biological sanitizers.
Keywords:
Bacteriophages, biocontrol, bio-sanitizer, cherry tomatoes, E. coli O157:H7,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
|
|
 |
ISSN (Online): 2042-4876
ISSN (Print): 2042-4868 |
 |
| Information |
|
|
|
|
| Sales & Services |
|
|
|
|
