title: Rapid qualitative method for detecting staphylococcal nuclease in foods.
abstract: A rapid method for the detection of heat-stable staphylococcal nuclease in foods is described. The procedure consists of an acid precipitation, boiling, and centrifugation followed by enzyme detection in an agar plate containing deoxyribonucleic acid. To test the efficacy of the procedure, purified Staphylococcus aureus nuclease was added to various foods and recovery experiments were performed. Additionally, foods were inoculated and incubated with S. aureus, and the staphylococcal counts were compared with nuclease activity. The results indicate that the procedure possesses merit for a rapid method that can be incorporated into quality control programs. The procedure requires approximately 2.5 h, and it will detect nuclease levels as low as 10 ng/g of food.
mesh_terms: D003611:Dairy Products / Q000032:analysis; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis; D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease