Bacteriophage Treatment as the Revolutionizing Food Biocontrol Strategy in Post-Antibiotic Era

Yong, Xian Lerk (2021) Bacteriophage Treatment as the Revolutionizing Food Biocontrol Strategy in Post-Antibiotic Era. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Foodborne pathogens are a recognized food safety concern in both primary food production level as well as food processing and packaging facilities, but this concern has received increased attention due to emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria in recent century. To explore this topic, the microbial candidates responsible for foodborne illness and food spoilage are discussed. The industrialized approaches against these pathogenic microbes are discussed and evaluated based on their strengths and weaknesses. In the event of using antibiotics for food biocontrol, numerous research studies have supported the prevalence and persistence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food industry, they posed an imminent danger of turning antibiotics into obsolete assets. Corresponding to this problem as well as complementing drawbacks of other decontamination strategies, the bacteriophage treatment is evaluated and deemed as feasible food decontamination strategies due to its inertness to other living organisms except host bacteria, self-replicative ability, synergy with other food biocontrol methods and host specificity. As a continuation, the topics extend to beginning phage research by phage isolation from natural environments and characterization as the popular first step, and the resulting phage efficacy is also evaluated based on their feasibility which are liable to changes in food industry environments. Besides, the role of bacteriophage treatment to overcome challenges posed by biofilms formation in food processing facilities is also assessed. Biofilms are identified as great decontamination obstacles due to its evidential survival rate increase of biofilm producers and microbes associated with it. Plus, the current strategies against biofilm are also discussed and evaluated. It is agreed by many research scientists that bacteriophage treatment in the forms of cocktail is most optimized for biocontrol use. Extending to the limitations of phage treatment, phage resistance is a major drawback due to underlying cellular mechanisms which can be improved by phage bioengineering and deliberate formulations of phage cocktails. Furthermore, this review also recommends selection of phage which results in fitness trade-offs as well as synergizing phage with certain antibiotics.