Encapsulation of specific Salmonella Enteritidis phage f3αSE on alginate-spheres as a method for protection and dosification

Background: Bacteriophages have been proposed as an alternative to control pathogenic bacteria resistant to . However, they are not extensively used due to different factors such as vulnerability under conditions and the lack of efficient administration methods. A potential solution is the of bacteriophages in hydrogel polymers to increase their viability and as a controlled release . This work describes the use of alginate-Ca+2 matrixes as mechanisms for protection and dosification the phage f3αSE which has been successfully used to prevent infections produced by Salmonella Enteritidis. : The viability of the pure phage is reduced in near 100% after 1-h incubation at pH 2 or 3. However, the phage remains active in 80, 6% at pH 3, while no differences were observed at pH 2, 4 or 7. of f3αSE to different T° showed that the viability of this phage decreased with increased T° to near 15% at 60°C, while the encapsulated phage remains with 50% viability at same temperature. Finally, the of phages showed to extend their presence for 100 h in the medium compared to -encapsulated phages in a water flow system, which simulate automatic birdbath used in poultry industry, the phage concentration between 102 and 104 PFU/mL during 250 h. : Encapsulation in alginate-Ca+2 spheres can be a good alternative to extend viability of phages and be used as a phage method dosification method in water flow systems.