Post-harvest biocontrol of Salmonella Enteritidis on Chicken breast meat and Shell eggs using multiphage cocktail

The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a phage cocktail to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis contamination on perishable food items viz. chicken breast meat and shell eggs using different concentrations. Initially, four bacteriophages €P54, €P59, €P66, and €P72 were isolated from sewage water using Salmonella Enteritidis as a target strain. €P54 and €P66 were found to be Myoviruses while €P59 and €P72 belonged to the Siphoviridae family. A phage cocktail was applied at a concentration of 100 and 10,000 multiplicity of infection (MOI) after artificially contaminating both food items with Salmonella Enteritidis. Results showed that, phage cocktail significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced Salmonella Enteritidis count at both concentrations. However, the increased reduction was witnessed at 10,000 MOI. In comparison to untreated control, on chicken breast meat bacterial count was reduced to 1.94 and 3.17 Log10 cfu/g at 100 and 10,000 MOI respectively at 4oC. Similarly, on shell eggs, the bacterial count was reduced to 3.09 and 2.81 Log10 cfu/mL at 10,000 MOI at 4°C and 25°C respectively, while at 100 MOI there was less drop in bacterial count at both 4°C and 25°C. The results showed a better reduction at 4°C as compared to 25°C. Our data showed that the phage cocktail is an effective alternative and additional measure compared to conventional bacterial control methods for meat and eggs.