Rapid Detection of Microbial Contamination and Growth in Wheat and Corn
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Abstract:
To detect contamination and growth of fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms in grain and its processed products rapidly, a comparative experimental study was conducted by using catalase activity detection and plate culture count methods. For this purpose, gradient dilutions were used in Aspergillus glaucus, Aspergillus flavus, Bacillus subtilis, and other microbial suspensions, which are closely related to the quality and safety of grain and its processed products during storage and circulation. The results showed that for the method involving detection of catalase activity, deviations were relatively small, all linear correlation coefficients were equal to or more than 0.99, and the correlation coefficients between the measured values using this method and those obtained using the plate count method were greater than 0.95. For grain and its processed products with different degrees of microbial contamination, the change in the trend of the measured values using the two methods was consistent. For samples with the same type of microorganisms in grain and its processed products, the catalase activity detection method showed relatively high sensitivity. Additionally, when these microorganisms were in the growth state, the values for enzyme activity were two times higher than that when they were not in the growth state. Therefore, the method based on catalase activity detection is an efficient method to detect contamination and growth of microorganisms in grain and its processed products.
