Predicting microbial growth: graphical methods for comparing models.

Some simple computer-based graphics were used to compare different models predicting microbial growth responses of salmonellae to three factors (pH, sodium chloride concentration and incubation temperature). Simple linear regression, contour and three-dimensional surface plots all revealed gross differences between the predicted growth parameters from different growth models. Regression and contour plots were found to be more sensitive to small differences in surface topography, but three-dimensional surface plots provided a good overview.