Food Safety - Total Plate Count (TPC)
Food Safety
Total Plate Count (TPC)
This is a count of microbial load in a sample i.e. it an enumeration of all heterotrophic bacteria that will grow in aerobic or microaerophilic conditions that will grow at 350C. This plate count will tell you how good your sanitization plan is, measure the safety of your product or water supply. This test is the most common test done in factories. It is measured in CFU or colony forming units based on the premise that one bacteria which is invisible to the naked eye will grow to form a cluster or colony which then becomes visible, when in contact with appropriate nutrients and temperature and it is properly spread out. The other counting method often used is a statistical method called MPN method. Here counting is based on viable colonies which can grow in a liquid medium contained in a series of 3 or 5 or even 10 tubes in different concentration. The number of positive tubes is referred to a chart which will give you the most probable number of bacteria in your sample. This method is usually used for low count samples or for highly stressed bacteria. Bioscience Diagnostics Singapore provides three platforms for total plate count i.e. rapid method Simplate, convenient membrane nutrient media and Biolife Culture Media.
Simplate Rapid Method for Enumeration of Total Plate Count or TPC
The Simplate is a rapid method for total plate count that gives time to result in 24 hours as compared to 72 hours for iso method and 48 hours for BAM method. The methodology is simple and designed for operators with no microbiological background. Simply pipet 9ml of sterile water into a container provided and add 1 ml of sample. This provides a 1 in 10 dilution. Then pour the mixture onto a specially prepared plate, place the supplied cover on and swirl to distribute the contents into the wells in the plate. Incubate for 24 hours at 350C and read the results as a blue fluorescence under UV light of 366 nm. The enumeration is by comparison to a chart. The main advantage of using this method is faster time to results, accuracy of counting, and the prevention of spreading. This is an AOAC and MicroVal approved method.
Microbial Nutrient Media Test Pads
The Merck MC Media Pads is a convenient and rapid test for a 24 hours Total Plate Count. The pads are coated with a growth media and chromogenic substances for the detection of TPC. An absorbent gauze is placed on top of the media to allow for easy spreading of sample. After pipetting the sample onto the pad, the pad is covered with a transparent film. This is AOAC and MicroVal approved.
Bioscience Diagnostics Singapore supplies Biolife Italiana Tryptic Glucose Soy Agar for the enumeration of aerobic bacteria. Its constituents are tryptone, yeast extract, glucose and agar. This product complies with AOAC, ISO, BAM, APHA, ICMSF, for aerobic and facultative microorganism in food, water and animal feeds. Its use for enumeration should follow ISO or BAM Guidelines.
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