Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of bacteriophage P22 on the inhibition of growth of Salmonella Typhimurium. The P22 belongs to Podoviridae family consisting of a hexagonal head and short tail. The inhibitory effect of phage in milk was noticeable at the early storage period, showing more than 3 log reduction at 4 h and day 3. The pH values of milk treated with P22 were significantly decreased from 6.7 to 6.3 after 24 h incubation at 37 °C, while no significant changes in pH values were observed for the control and bacteriophage treatment throughout the storage at 4 °C for 12 days. The slight color changes were observed in the control and bacteriophage treatment throughout the storage at 4 °C for 12 days and 37 °C for 24 h. These results provide useful information for enhancing microbiological safety and quality of milk and designing effective bacteriophage-based control in food system.