Bacteriophage encapsulation: Trends and potential applications

• Published in: Trends in food science & technology Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 212 - 221
• Main Authors: Choińska-Pulit, Anna, Mituła, Paweł, Śliwka, Paulina, Łaba, Wojciech, Skaradzińska, Aneta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2015
• Subjects: Bacteriophages; Biomaterials; Encapsulation techniques; feeds; Food industry; Foodborne pathogens; foods; industry; medicine; microencapsulation; Phage preservation; probiotics; Bacteriophages; Foodborne pathogens; Encapsulation techniques; Phage preservation; Food industry; Biomaterials
• ISSN: 0924-2244; 1879-3053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2015.07.001

Modern encapsulation methods are mainly used to prepare formulations containing probiotic bacteria, while the encapsulation of bacteriophages is a marginal topic of all reports concerning this subject. Meanwhile, interest in phage preparations in the field of medicine is growing and extends to veterinary purposes and various industries including food production. The main efforts of researchers are selection of methods and process conditions, to obtain a product that will preserve the activity of bacteriophages and enable their appropriate release in the target environment. This article summarizes methods of bacteriophage encapsulation and discusses the most important achievements in this field. Future investigation could focus on the possibility of encapsulation of bacteriophages which have not yet been investigated and optimization of the process technology. It is essential to find properly selected systems where phages can be safely added directly to food products and animal feed. Furthermore, long-term stability testing is necessary to evaluate satisfactory microencapsulation efficiency. [Display omitted] •Vast progress has been made towards application of phages in the food industry.•Encapsulation techniques are used for bacteriophage activity preservation.•Main bacteriophage encapsulation methods include emulsification and extrusion.•New effective methods of phage encapsulation are being developed.