TEMPO®SYSTEM IN MICROBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SPICES AND FOOD ADDITIVES
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Publication date: 2007-09-30
Pol. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2007;57(Special issue 3A):67-69
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ABSTRACT
Thanks to the research it was possible to evaluate how useful is the automated TEMPO® system (bioMerieux) for determining the total number of mesophilic microorganisms in spices and food additives, characterised by a high concentration of dyes. Statistical analysis of the results by linear regression proves the equivalence of the TEMPO® method and the standard count plate method, at a correlation coefficient of 0.99. According to the findings, the dye of the examined matrices does not influence the result of the fluorescent signal at sample dilution of 1/4 000, which results in microbiological matrices contamination, not lower than 1.0 x 103 CFU/g. In the case of colourful food matrices demonstrating a high level of contamination with mesophilic microflora, such as whole black peppercorns (the level of microflora above 4.9 x 106 CFU/g), sample dilutions of 1/40 000 should be applied.