Abstract:The efficacy of phage magnetic separation combined with fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for rapid detection of Salmonella in the food matrix was verified. The specific phage of Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC14028), T102, was used as a molecular recognition element and was first coupled with carboxylated magnetic beads to prepare a phage T102-magnetic beads complex. Salmonella was specifically isolated and enriched by the phage T102-magnetic beads complex from the food matrix and then quantified by qPCR. The detection limit of this rapid detection method for Salmonella was 100 colony-forming units CFU/mL (0.1 CFU/PCR). The method had high specificity, with a linear range of 1×102~1×109 CFU/mL and a coefficient of variation of 2.1%. The overall detection procedure takes 6 h. Three hundred batches of food safety samples were tested and compared with the “National Standard for Food Safety, Food Microbiology Inspection, Salmonella Inspection” (GB 4789.4-2016). No positive samples were detected, and the results were consistent with the results of the GB 4789.4-2016 standard method. This method provides a reference for the application of phage-coupled magnetic nanoparticles in the detection of foodborne pathogens.