Development and evaluation of a new device to effectively detach micro-organisms from food samples.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a new instrument of great versatility for recovering micro-organisms from all types of food samples and to compare the effects with existing sample preparation methods.


RESULTS
To detach micro-organisms from large-size unbroken food samples such as apples, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes without preprocessing, the Spindle apparatus was newly developed. The Spindle was used to effectively detach micro-organisms from large-size samples. In a comparative study involving 51 food samples, treatment with the Spindle and Stomacher showed that recovery of total aerobic micro-organisms (naturally occurring mesophilic microflora) and foodborne pathogens (from samples inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes) for both methods was highly correlated (R² = 0·98). Furthermore, diluents treated by the Spindle contained much less food debris than those treated by stomaching.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that Spindle is a novel, effective alternative method for detaching micro-organisms from food samples including four kinds of large-size samples without the need for preprocessing.


CONCLUSIONS
The Spindle might be used to widely detaching micro-organisms from all types of food samples for microbiological assay.
Department of Food and Biotechnology, Center for Agricultural Biomaterials, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Y H
YH
Kim
S Y
SY
Lee
H G
HG
Sagong
S
S
Heu
S
S
Ryu
D H
DH
Kang
D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology