Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Nov 8;6(4):27.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics6040027.

Bacteriophages in the Dairy Environment: From Enemies to Allies

Lucía Fernández  1 , Susana Escobedo  2 , Diana Gutiérrez  3 , Silvia Portilla  4 , Beatriz Martínez  5 , Pilar García  6 , Ana Rodríguez  7
Affiliations
Review

Bacteriophages in the Dairy Environment: From Enemies to Allies

Lucía Fernández et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

The history of dairy farming goes back thousands of years, evolving from a traditional small-scale production to the industrialized manufacturing of fermented dairy products. Commercialization of milk and its derived products has been very important not only as a source of nourishment but also as an economic resource. However, the dairy industry has encountered several problems that have to be overcome to ensure the quality and safety of the final products, as well as to avoid economic losses. Within this context, it is interesting to highlight the role played by bacteriophages, or phages, viruses that infect bacteria. Indeed, bacteriophages were originally regarded as a nuisance, being responsible for fermentation failure and economic losses when infecting lactic acid bacteria, but are now considered promising antimicrobials to fight milk-borne pathogens without contributing to the increase in antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; bacteriophages; biofilms; dairy industry; fermentation failure; lactic acid bacteria; pathogens.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Factors that contribute to the presence of phages in dairy settings.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of different points of the dairy supply chain susceptible to microbial contamination.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Principal points of disinfection and biocontrol along the dairy chain (from “farm to fork”), where phages can be applied to ensure dairy safety.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rodríguez González A., Roces Rodríguez C., Martínez Fernández B. Chapter 9: Cultivos Iniciadores en Quesería: Tradición y Modernidad. In: Roa I., Pacheco M., Tabla R., Rebollo J.E., editors. Biocontrol en la Industria Láctea. Bubok Publishing, S.L.; Madrid, Spain: 2014. pp. 110–125. (In Spanish)
    1. Dugdill B., Bennett A., Phelan J., Scholten B.A. Chapter 8: Dairy-industry development programmes: Their role in food and nutrition security and poverty reduction. In: Muehlhoff E., Bennett A., McMahon D., editors. Milk and Dairy Products in Human Nutrition. FAO; Rome, Italy: 2013. pp. 313–348.
    1. Kongerslev Thorning T., Raben A., Tholstrup T., Soedamah-Muthu S.S., Givens I., Astrup A. Milk and dairy products: Good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evidence. Food Nutr. Res. 2016;60 doi: 10.3402/fnr.v60.32527. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chandan R.C. Dairy Industry: Chapter 2: Production and Consumption Trends. In: Chandan R.C., Kilara A., Schah N.P., editors. Dairy Processing & Quality Assurance. Wiley-Blackwell; Ames, IA, USA: 2008. pp. 41–58.
    1. Moncada Jiménez A., Pelayo Consuegra B.H. El libro blanco de la Leche y los Productos Lácteos. Cámara Nacional de Industriales de la Leche; Mexico City, Mexico: 2011. Chapter 4: El Proceso Industrial de los Productos Lácteos; pp. 52–65.

LinkOut - more resources