Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
BU Supreetha

Abstract:
Salmonella is a food-borne pathogen and reports of human cases of Salmonellosis are on the rise. Salmonella enterica is an important species with several serovars responsible for both enteric fever and gastrointestinal illness. A major challenge to the management of bacterial disease is the growing resistance to antimicrobials thus resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Eliminating this dangerous pathogen in food and preventing the spread of it would be a safer strategy for reducing the illness. One such eliminating process is through the application of lytic bacteriophage. Lytic bacteriophages are bacterial viruses that offer promise to combat bacterial diseases. As phages are non-toxic, do not impart any color, do not alter the texture or taste of the food, have no residual effect, and also maintain the original desired quality of food. Owed to all its desirable characteristics, bacteriophages are permitted for managing pathogenic bacteria and would be immensely useful to the pharmaceutical and food industries. In the present investigation, Salmonella phages having a broad host range capacity targeting many serovars of Salmonella enterica were applied to the seafood. The marked reduction in the Salmonella numbers in the spiked clam homogenate suggests its application value and its efficiency be a promising therapeutic biocontrol agent to combat Salmonella.