Rapid Enumeration of Microorganisms

Flow cytometry (FCM) has become a valuable tool in food microbiology. It has been developed to rapidly enumerate microorganisms, to distinguish between viable, metabolically-active and dead cells, which is of great importance in food development and food spoilage.

Currently, the food industry is still using quality control analytical techniques based on plating of diluted samples onto media and counting the resultant colonies after incubation under defined condition of time and temperature. This method is labour and time consuming. In the case of certain pathogens such as E. coli, this process can take up to 5 days. Moreover, further biochemical identification can prolong the duration for up to 7 days.

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