Abstract:
Traditional cultural methods for the detection of Salmonella in foods is a labour-intensive and time-consuming, taking 4 to 5 days for the final results to be known. Therefore, simplified and rapid methods are required for both diagnosis of foodborne diseases and microbiological food quality control. The aim of this study was to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Salmonella Enteritidis in foods. The assay used a polyclonal detector antibody to flagelin raised in rabbit. The method sensitivity was of 10 cells/mL of pure culture. The horseradish peroxidase conjugate was stabel up to two months at 4°C and for this reason it should be used only during this period.