A bacteriophage cocktail for reducing Escherichia coli contamination in lettuce during storage conditions

Abstract

Foodborne illnesses caused by Escherichia coli remain a major public health concern because of their impact on food safety and the role of E. coli as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes. Bacteriophages have emerged as promising biocontrol agents due to their host specificity, safety, and ability to selectively target bacterial. In this study, a lytic three-phage cocktail, was developed and evaluated for the control of E. coli in lettuce stored under refrigerated (4 °C) and ambient (25 °C) conditions. Phages were selected based on their lytic activity, host range, and complementary infectivity profiles against reference and wastewater-derived E. coli strains. The antimicrobial efficacy of the cocktail was assessed in lettuce artificially contaminated with E. coli ATCC 25922 or B1348 (MOI 1000; 1 × 10 8 PFU/mL per phage), and bacterial populations were quantified after 6 and 24 h. The cocktail significantly reduced E. coli ATCC 25922, achieving maximum reductions of 2.64 log CFU/g after 6 h at 25 °C and 2.47 log CFU/g after 24 h at 4 °C (p < 0.001). No significant reduction was observed for strain B1348. These findings demonstrate the potential of wastewater-derived lytic phages as biocontrol agents to improve the microbiological safety of fresh produce.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{arayaacosta2026bacteriophage,
  title = {{A bacteriophage cocktail for reducing Escherichia coli contamination in lettuce during storage conditions}},
  author = {Alba-Rayen Araya-Acosta and Mario Tello and Cesar Huiliñir and Ricardo Salazar and Verónica García},
  journal = {LWT - Food Science and Technology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.lwt.2026.119867},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05791655v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - A bacteriophage cocktail for reducing Escherichia coli contamination in lettuce during storage conditions
AU  - Alba-Rayen Araya-Acosta
AU  - Mario Tello
AU  - Cesar Huiliñir
AU  - Ricardo Salazar
AU  - Verónica García
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/11
JO  - LWT - Food Science and Technology
DO  - 10.1016/j.lwt.2026.119867
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05791655v1
AB  - Foodborne illnesses caused by Escherichia coli remain a major public health concern because of their impact on food safety and the role of E. coli as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes. Bacteriophages have emerged as promising biocontrol agents due to their host specificity, safety, and ability to selectively target bacterial. In this study, a lytic three-phage cocktail, was developed and evaluated for the control of E. coli in lettuce stored under refrigerated (4 °C) and ambient (25 °C) conditions. Phages were selected based on their lytic activity, host range, and complementary infectivity profiles against reference and wastewater-derived E. coli strains. The antimicrobial efficacy of the cocktail was assessed in lettuce artificially contaminated with E. coli ATCC 25922 or B1348 (MOI 1000; 1 × 10 8 PFU/mL per phage), and bacterial populations were quantified after 6 and 24 h. The cocktail significantly reduced E. coli ATCC 25922, achieving maximum reductions of 2.64 log CFU/g after 6 h at 25 °C and 2.47 log CFU/g after 24 h at 4 °C (p < 0.001). No significant reduction was observed for strain B1348. These findings demonstrate the potential of wastewater-derived lytic phages as biocontrol agents to improve the microbiological safety of fresh produce.
SN  - 0023-6438
SN  - 1096-1127
ER  -

Abstract

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