Monitoring microbial numbers in food by density centrifugation.

Some foods contain low numbers of microbes that may be difficult to enumerate by the plate count method due to small food particles that interfere with the counting of colonies. Ludox colloidal silicon was coated with reducing agents to produce a nontoxic density material. Food homogenates were applied to a layered 10 and 80% mixture of modified Ludox and centrifuged at low speed. The top and bottom of the tube contained the food material, and the Ludox-containing portion was evaluated by conventional pour plate techniques. Plate counts of the Ludox mixture agreed with plate counts of the food homogenate alone. The absence of small food particles from pour plates resulted in a plate that was more easily read than pour plates of the homogenate alone. Modified Ludox was evaluated for its effect on bacteria at 4 degrees C during a 24-h incubation period. No inhibition was observed. This method is applicable to food products, such as doughnuts, spices, tomato products, and meat, in which small food particles often interfere with routine plate counts or low dilution may inhibit colony formation. Inhibitory substances can be removed from spices, resulting in higher counts. Ludox is more economical than similar products, such as Percoll. Modified Ludox is easily rendered nontoxic by the addition of common laboratory reagents. In addition, the mixture is compatible with microbiological media.