A sensor‐based system for rapid on‐site testing of microbial contamination in meat samples and carcasses

Abstract

Aims:To develop an oxygen sensor-based method for testing total aerobic viable counts (TVC) in raw meat samples and cattle carcass swabs, which is rapid, simple, affordable, provides good sensitivity and analytical performance and allows on-site use. Methods and Results: The test uses the same sample preparation procedure as the established plate counting TVC method for meat samples and carcasses, ISO4833-1:2013. After this liquid samples are transferred into standard 25-ml vials with built-in phosphorescent O 2 sensors and incubated on a block heater with hourly readings of sensor signals with a handheld reader, to determine signal threshold time (TT, hours) for each sample. The method is demonstrated with the quantification of TVC in industrial cuts of raw beef meat (CFU per g) and carcass swabs (CFU per cm 2 ). Calibration curves were generated, which give the following analytical equations for calculating the TVC load in unknown samples from measured TT values: TVC [Log(CFU per cm 2 )] = 7.83-0.73*TT(h) and TVC [Log(CFU per g)] = 8.74-0.70*TT(h) for the carcass swabs and meat samples respectively. The new tests show good correlation with the ISO methods, with correlation coefficients 0.85 and 0.83 respectively. The testing requires no dilutions, covers the ranges 2-7 Log(CFU per g) for the meat samples and 1-7 Log(CFU per cm 2 ) for carcass swabs, and has time to result 1-10 h with faster detection of more contaminated samples. Conclusions: The sensor-based testing demonstrates simplicity, high speed, sample throughput and automation. It can provide a straightforward replacement for the conventional TVC tests, which are time consuming, laborious and have time to result of 48-72 h.

Application of tris-(4,7-Diphenyl-1,10 phenanthroline)ruthenium(II) Dichloride to Detection of Microorganisms in Pharmaceutical Products

“…A sensor coating cocktail containing polymeric microparticles impregnated with Pt(II)-tetrabenzoporphyrin (PtBP) dye containing hydrogel (binder) is being tested as a sensor of the microbiological quality of food products. The suitability of the quality control of the food production process was checked [ 16 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Electroactive Microorganisms in Advanced Energy Technologies

“…Large-scale production of promising green and sustainable materials is vital to convert renewable energy sources efficiently. Recently, advanced energy materials in electrocatalysis, biosensing, fuel cells, and power generation have been widely studied [11,[15][16][17][18][19]. However, preparing traditional energy materials still involves complex technological conditions and high preparation costs, which dramatically limit the large-scale application of energy materials in the industry.…”

Simple, Reusable, Solid-State System for Measuring Total (Aerobic) Viable Count, Tvc, Using the Micro-Respirometry Method (Mrm)

“…The 'gold standard' method for measuring the total viable count of aerobes, TVC, (typical units: colony forming units (CFU)/mL) is the aerobic plate counting method, APC [2][3][4], which today is still widely and routinely used by industry and in microbiological research. Unfortunately, APC is time consuming and laborious, involving multiple dilutions and counting, with a time to result of up to 72 h [5,6]. It also requires a significant number of bulky consumables, such as disposable plasticware, a dedicated lab, and microbiological technical support [6].…”

“…Unfortunately, APC is time consuming and laborious, involving multiple dilutions and counting, with a time to result of up to 72 h [5,6]. It also requires a significant number of bulky consumables, such as disposable plasticware, a dedicated lab, and microbiological technical support [6]. Thus, APC is not ideal, especially when dealing with samples requiring rapid testing [7], and so there is a real demand for more rapid, high-throughput, cost-efficient methods, that are amenable to automation, for measuring TVC [8].…”