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Bridging technique failure through low-tech improvisation: A case study of food microbiology

Naznin, Most Tahera ; Widstam, Sofia ; Akter, Rumana ; Mogren, Lars ; Berhane, Hanna Y ; Berhane, Yemane ; Ekström, Eva-Charlotte ; Jirström, Magnus LU and Alsanius, Beatrix W. (2020) In African Journal of Microbiology Research 14(7). p.361-365
Abstract
Modern technology for food safety studies includes standardized protocols and equipment. However, appropriate technology needs to step in to bridge technology dys- or malfunctioning. We examined different low-tech methods for extraction of bacteria from fresh vegetables. Standard equipment including stomacher and filter bags were compared to extraction using bread stick and alternative filter material (nylon stocking, mosquito net). Comparison of microspheres’ (ø: 53-63 µm; ø: 63-75 µm) passage through filter bags, nylon stockings with different densities (15 DEN, 20 DEN, 25 DEN, 40 DEN) and mosquito net showed no significant difference between filter bag and nylon stocking. A significantly higher number of both size microspheres (ø: 53-63... (More)
Modern technology for food safety studies includes standardized protocols and equipment. However, appropriate technology needs to step in to bridge technology dys- or malfunctioning. We examined different low-tech methods for extraction of bacteria from fresh vegetables. Standard equipment including stomacher and filter bags were compared to extraction using bread stick and alternative filter material (nylon stocking, mosquito net). Comparison of microspheres’ (ø: 53-63 µm; ø: 63-75 µm) passage through filter bags, nylon stockings with different densities (15 DEN, 20 DEN, 25 DEN, 40 DEN) and mosquito net showed no significant difference between filter bag and nylon stocking. A significantly higher number of both size microspheres (ø: 53-63 and ø: 63-75 µm) passed through the mosquito net than filter bag and nylon stocking. Manual extraction of romaine lettuce leaf was performed by three technicians. Viable counts of leaf associated bacteria were influenced by the technician and choice of filter material. Viable bacterial counts obtained from breadstick with filter bag manual extraction did not show any significant difference from standard method. We conclude that standard procedures can be replaced by low-tech approaches in the event of malfunctioning equipment. However, method validation is imperative. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
African Journal of Microbiology Research
volume
14
issue
7
article number
6DAB22F64345
pages
5 pages
publisher
Academic Journals
ISSN
1996-0808
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a471e6ff-28ca-4ef4-8767-c66a79d5dadd
alternative location
https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJMR/article-abstract/6DAB22F64345
date added to LUP
2020-07-25 10:31:45
date last changed
2020-08-13 13:50:45
@article{a471e6ff-28ca-4ef4-8767-c66a79d5dadd,
  abstract     = {{Modern technology for food safety studies includes standardized protocols and equipment. However, appropriate technology needs to step in to bridge technology dys- or malfunctioning. We examined different low-tech methods for extraction of bacteria from fresh vegetables. Standard equipment including stomacher and filter bags were compared to extraction using bread stick and alternative filter material (nylon stocking, mosquito net). Comparison of microspheres’ (ø: 53-63 µm; ø: 63-75 µm) passage through filter bags, nylon stockings with different densities (15 DEN, 20 DEN, 25 DEN, 40 DEN) and mosquito net showed no significant difference between filter bag and nylon stocking. A significantly higher number of both size microspheres (ø: 53-63 and ø: 63-75 µm) passed through the mosquito net than filter bag and nylon stocking. Manual extraction of romaine lettuce leaf was performed by three technicians. Viable counts of leaf associated bacteria were influenced by the technician and choice of filter material. Viable bacterial counts obtained from breadstick with filter bag manual extraction did not show any significant difference from standard method. We conclude that standard procedures can be replaced by low-tech approaches in the event of malfunctioning equipment. However, method validation is imperative.}},
  author       = {{Naznin, Most Tahera and Widstam, Sofia and Akter, Rumana and Mogren, Lars and Berhane, Hanna Y and Berhane, Yemane and Ekström, Eva-Charlotte and Jirström, Magnus and Alsanius, Beatrix W.}},
  issn         = {{1996-0808}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{361--365}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Journals}},
  series       = {{African Journal of Microbiology Research}},
  title        = {{Bridging technique failure through low-tech improvisation: A case study of food microbiology}},
  url          = {{https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJMR/article-abstract/6DAB22F64345}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}