phages4ACB
Hunting bacteriophages for food and beverages biopreservation: a novel approach to prevent spoilage by Alicyclobacillus spp.
Financiado por/Funded by:
Designação do Projeto | Project Name | phages4ACB – Hunting bacteriophages for food and beverages biopreservation: a novel approach to prevent spoilage by Alicyclobacillus spp.
Código do Projeto | Project Code | 2022.04043.PTDC
Domínio Científico | Scientific Domain | Ciências da Engenharia e Tecnologias
Entidade beneficiária | Beneficiary Entity | iBET – Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica
Data de aprovação | Approval Date | 07.12.2022
Data de início | Starting Date | 01.03.2023
Data de conclusão | Conclusion Date | 31.08.2024
Custo total elegível | Total Eligible Cost | 50.000,00 €
Apoio financeiro público nacional | National Public Financial Support | 50.000,00 €
Breve Descrição do Projeto | Brief Project Description | The food and beverages industry has faced numerous spoilage events, resulting in food waste, product recalls, and loss of consumer confidence. Part of these spoilage events involves an off-flavour production that has been correlated to the presence of isolates from the Alicyclobacillus (ACB) genus. ACB represents a threat to the agri-food industry since they (i) resist the acidic environments used for preservation, (ii) can form endospores that survive the pasteurization steps, and (iii) can even germinate, during the shelf-life of consumer products, triggered by the thermal treatments applied. Since traditional preservation methods are unsuitable for controlling ACB, other approaches are required in these settings.
Novel biopreservation systems using bacteriophages is one solution that does fulfil both the requirements of the industry and the consumer: it is a targeted, effective, natural, and green technology, compliant with organic and vegan claims, has no effect on taste, colour, or smell, and does not require labelling. Phages targeting foodborne pathogens are already commercially available and have approved uses by different authorities for food, feed, livestock, or contact surfaces applications. However, no phage for the biocontrol and biopreservation of spoilage ACB in food and beverages has yet been described.
In this proposal, the strategies to establish the first bank of lytic phages that infect spoilage bacteria from the ACB genus are devised, together with methodologies to characterize them phenotypically and molecularly.