AUTHOR=Hernández Igor 

TITLE=Bacteriophages against Serratia as Fish Spoilage Control Technology

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00449

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.00449

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Bacteria of the genus <italic>Serratia</italic>, mainly <italic>S. proteamaculans</italic> and <italic>S. fonticola</italic>, are important spoilage agents in Atlantic horse mackerel (<italic>Trachurus trachurus</italic>). In order to evaluate whether bacteriophages against <italic>Serratia</italic> could delay the spoilage process, 11 viral strains active against this genus were isolated from food and best candidate was applied to fresh mackerel filets. All the phages belong to the <italic>Siphoviridae</italic> and <italic>Podoviridae</italic> families and were active at multiplicity of infection (MOI) levels below 1:1 in Long &amp; Hammer broth. The ability of phage AZT6 to control <italic>Serratia</italic> populations in real food was tested in Atlantic horse mackerel extract and applied to fresh mackerel filets. Treatment with high phage concentration (MOI 350:1, initial <italic>Serratia</italic> population 3.9 ± 0.3 Log cfu/g) can reduce the <italic>Serratia</italic> populations up to 90% during fish storage (a maximum of 6 days) at low temperatures (6°C). Bacterial inhibition was dependent on the bacteriophage dosage, and MOI of 10:1 or lower did not significantly affect the <italic>Serratia</italic> populations.</p>