Comparison of a Rapid ATP Bioluminescence Assay and Standard Plate Count Methods for Assessing Microbial Contamination of Consumers' Refrigerators

2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (10) ◽  
pp. 2534-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
FUR-CHI CHEN ◽  
SANDRIA L. GODWIN

The feasibility of using an ATP bioluminescence assay for assessing microbial contamination of home refrigerators was evaluated and compared with the standard culture methods. Samples of refrigerator surfaces were collected from 123 households by swabbing an area of 100 cm2 on three locations in the refrigerator with premoisturized sterile swabs. Microbial contaminations were determined by aerobic plate count (APC; incubated at 35°C for 48 h) and psychrotrophic plate count (PPC; incubated at 7°C for 10 days) on plate count agar. The results were compared to the readings from the microbial ATP (mATP) bioluminescence assay. The correlation coefficient (r) between mATP and PPC (r = 0.851) was slightly higher than that between mATP and APC (r = 0.823). Our results indicated a potential discrepancy in the population of mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria in the refrigerator samples. Nevertheless, mATP appeared to be a reliable indication of the average of APC and PPC (r = 0.895). The mATP bioluminescence assay would provide a rapid and convenient test for researchers in field studies to assess microbial contamination in refrigerators.

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 770-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
GREGORY R. SIRAGUSA ◽  
CATHERINE N. CUTTER ◽  
WARREN J. DORSA ◽  
MOHAMMAD KOOHMARAIE

A new microbial ATP bioluminescence assay was shown to be an accurate and rapid method to determine the levels of generic bacterial contamination on beef (n = 400 and pork (n = 320) carcasses sampled in commercial processing plants. Based on in vitro fecal dilution studies, the rapid microbial ATP (R-mATP) assay is as accurate as the standard plate count method for estimating bacteria in bovine or porcine fecal samples. The correlations (r) between the R-mATP assay and the standard aerobic plate count for beef and pork carcasses sampled in commercial processing were 0.91 and 0.93, respectively. A segmented-model statistical approach to determine the lower limits of assay sensitivity was developed. By using this model to analyze the in-plant data, the R-mATP test responded in a linear fashion to levels of microbial contamination of > log10 2.0 aerobic CFU/cm2 on beef carcasses and of > log10 3.2 aerobic CFU/cm2 for pork carcasses. The R-mATP assay requires approximately 5 min to complete, including sampling. Given the rapidity and accuracy of the assay, processors interested in monitoring critical control points in the slaughter process could potentially use the R-mATP assay to monitor microbiological prevention and intervention procedures for minimizing carcass contamination.


1994 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 509-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
KLAUS SEEGER ◽  
MANSEL W. GRIFFITHS

An investigation was conducted to assess the practical use of an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning and sanitizing meat slicers in eight health care institutions. The ATP bioluminescence assay was compared to conventional swabbing techniques using standard plate count to enumerate microbial load. Assays were performed on meat slicers before use, after slicing a meat product and after sanitizing. There was a general overall agreement in results obtained by both methods but the ATP assay gave a better indication of the cleanliness of the meat slicer as it was able to detect the presence of meat residues left on the blade after improper sanitation. Results were available within 5 min using the ATP bioluminescence method, thus providing an opportunity for immediate remedial action.


2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 1909-1916 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.F. Cunha ◽  
A.D. Lage ◽  
M.M. Pereira e Araújo ◽  
C.F. Abreu ◽  
A.R. Tassinari ◽  
...  

New approaches are needed to quickly indicate possible contamination of UHT milk, among them the technique of ATP-Bioluminescence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the results of culture methods with the results of ATP-Bioluminescence technique of 102 UHT whole milk samples incubated at 48, 72, and 168 hours. UHT milk samples were analyzed for the presence of mesophilic and psychrotrophic aerobic microorganisms using Plate Count Agar (PCA), Brain-Heart Infusion (BHI) media and PetrifilmTM Aerobic Count (AC) plates. The ATP-Bioluminescence technique was applied through the Microbial Luminescent Screening (MLS) system. Significant correlations were found between counts of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms on PCA, PetrifilmTM AC, BHI and results of ATP bioluminescence technique (P≤0.05). The ATP-Bioluminescence technique had higher correlation with counting method in PCA than BHI media. At lower pass/fail limits of Relative Light Units (60, 50, 45 and 40 RLU), the number of samples identified as positive increased and statistically agreed with aerobic mesophilic microorganism counts (P>0.05). For the dairy industry, the ATP-Bioluminescence technique may become an important tool that assists the official methods to quickly monitor the microbiological quality of UHT milk though this will likely require a threshold below 150 RLU.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Li

In this paper, the application of ATP fluorescence in the detection of colonies in the health environment of hospitals was studied. Firstly, the principle of ATP bioluminescence method was described. Then, ATP bioluminescence and plate count method were used to test the density of the surface of the objects in selected area, taking the time points 2 hours after disinfection as the time nodes. The results showed that the difference between the qualified rate of ATP bioluminescence assay and the plate count method was statistically significant {P<0.01}. Therefore, ATP bioluminescence method was highly correlated with bacterial culture method. The correlation coefficient of pass rate of the two methods was 0.782, which indicated that there was a positive correlation between the two test results. Besides, the detection results showed that ATP bioluminescence method had higher sensitivity than plate counting method. Therefore, ATP bioluminescence method was more suitable for the rapid detection of the colony of hospital health environment, and helps the hospital to better manage its environmental hygiene conditions. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Wax ◽  
Bryan Hill

Prior studies have linked microbial contamination of intravenous (IV) ports and stopcocks with postoperative infections. Existing technologies to address contamination are not consistently utilized because of the time and effort they require. Herein, novel barrier devices were created that form a protective shell to passively prevent contact between injection sites and practitioner hands or environmental surfaces while still allowing rapid connection of a syringe for injection of medications via an opening in the shell. Prototypes were tested using a grossly contaminated environment and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-bioluminescence assay. For eight pairs of unshielded versus shielded IV ports/stopcocks, average contamination was 4102 versus 35 RLU (p < 0.02), respectively, indicating that the devices could significantly reduce IV port/stopcock contamination.


1990 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. HARRIS ◽  
S. L. CUPPETT ◽  
L. B. BULLERMAN

Three different agar diffusion screening methods, employing two growth media, standard plate count agar (SPCA) and 1% peptone enriched trypticase soy agar (TSA), were used to isolate psychrotrophic bacteria from raw milk which produce lipase. Clarified butterfat and nile blue sulfate served as the substrate and dye, respectively, in all methods. Although a double-overlay method yielded slightly greater numbers of lipolytic bacteria than a single-layered method with comparable media, better visual clarity was achieved with the single-layered method. Peptone enriched TSA medium supported better growth of lipolytic bacteria than SPCA.


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