Processing bacterial counts

The richer a plant part is in nutrients and the slower the drying process, the higher the bacterial count of the resulting drug root drugs, which of course are to begin with more heavily contaminated, always have a higher bacterial count than do flowers, for example, which are a less suitable as a nutrient medium. 

Distilled water is often used in the formulahon of oral and topical pharmaceutical preparations and a low bacterial count is desirable. It is also used after distillation with a specially designed still, often made of glass, for the manufacture of parenteral preparations and a post-distillation heat sterilization stage is commonly included in the process. Water for such preparahons is often stored at 80°C in order to prevent bacterial growth and the production of pyrogenic substances which accompany such growth. 

The predominant amines found in cheese are tyramine, cadaverine, putrescine and histamine (Table 6.6) (Stratton et ah, 1991 Silla Santos, 1996 Novella-Rodriguez et ah, 2002 Novella-Rodriguez et al., 2003). Biogenic amine levels may vary between types of cheese as well as within the varieties themselves. The differences within a variety of cheese may be due to a number of factors, including manufacturing processes, bacterial counts in the milk, heat treatments used, use of starter cultures, and the duration and conditions of the ripening process (Stratton et al., 1991 Pinho et al., 2001 Novella-Rodriguez et al., 2003). 

J. D. Findlay, C. Higginbottom, J. A. B. Smith, and C. H. Lea, The effect of the pre-heating temperature on the bacterial count and storage life of whole milk powder spray-dried by the Krause process, J. Dairy Res., 1946, 14, 378-399. 

Examination of the urine is the cornerstone of laboratory evaluation for UTIs. There are three acceptable methods of urine collection. The first is the midstream clean-catch method. After cleaning the urethral opening area in both men and women, 20 to 30 mL of urine is voided and discarded. The next part of the urine flow is collected and should be processed immediately (refrigerated as soon as possible). Specimens that are allowed to sit at room temperature for several hours may result in falsely elevated bacterial counts. The midstream clean catch is the preferred method for the routine collection of urine for culture. When a routine urine specimen cannot be collected or contamination occurs, alternative collection techniques must be used. 

Water is used in sterile bulk operations for final rinsing of equipment, tanks and other items used in final compounding, processing and filling of sterile drug products. The quality of water must meet the requirements of the USP Water for Injection. Among the most important of these requirements are extremely low (e.g. 0-2 CFU) coliform bacterial counts. Water for Injection outlets are sampled daily in large amounts (>500 ml). Appropriate culture media, temperatures and times for incubation of water samples are selected for enumeration of bacteria. ... 

Khoury et al., 1996 Locatelli et al., 1993, 2000). Pest infestation of dried fish leads to higher levels of uric acid and bacterial counts that are unacceptable to consumers and traders (Solanki, 1985). Toxicological studies revealed that excess levels of uric acid in the diet could induce hyperuricemia with associated nephropathy in rats (Starvic et al., 1969). Secretions from the adults of Tribolium spp. and Rhyzopertha dominica impart unacceptable off-odors to foodstuffs. Processing and end-use qualities of food commodities are also affected by insect infestation, as are cash value and marketability of different commodities. 

The use of steam to reduce the bacterial count in spices has been gaining momentum due to the concerns with tlie safely of both gas and irradiation. Steam is coietidercd to be a safe Cirm of hiiclcrial rcdiiclioii throughout the world. There are two HKlhods of steam bacteria reduction being offered in the U.S. today. One of these is a wet method and the other is a dry process. 

The most common process is the pasteurization of milk to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is a non-spore-forming bacterium. This pasteurization does not sterilize the milk but kills the M. tuberculosis and reduces the other bacterial count sufficiently so that the milk can be stored if refrigerated. 

Traditionally, the shelf life of milk—the period between processing and the time when milk becomes unacceptable to consumers because of taste or odor—has been determined by bacterial counts and sensory evaluation. The shelf life of pasteurized processed milk is generally 14-18 days, but can be much less if the milk supply is contaminated with microbes (e.g., psychrotrophic bacteria). If pasteurized milk with abnormally short shelf life could be detected prior to leaving the processing plant, there would be less chance that processed milk with off-flavors would reach consumers tables. 

Microbiological Studies. Bacterial numbers for the Chesapeake Bay samples and the pure cultures were determined by acridine orange direct counts (AODC) (67). Those for the lakes were determined by epifluorescence (68) using DAPI (4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) with a final stain concentration of 1.0 xg/mL, a process that is described in detail elsewhere (69). 

---