Alternative anaerobic enrichments to the bacteriological analytical manual culture method for isolation of Shigella sonnei from selected types of fresh produce.

Alternative methods of reducing oxygen during anaerobic enrichment in the Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) Shigella culture method were evaluated and compared to the current and less practical GasPak method. The alternative anaerobic methods included the use of reducing agents in Shigella broth and reducing culture container headspace volume to minimize atmospheric effects on oxygen concentration in Shigella broth during enrichment. The reducing agents evaluated were sodium thioglycollate, L-cystine, L-cysteine, titanium(III) citrate, and dithiothreitol, each at concentrations of 0.

Microbial evaluation of selected fresh produce obtained at retail markets.

The microbial quality of five types of fresh produce obtained at the retail level was determined by standard quantitative techniques. These techniques included aerobic plate count (APC), total coliform counts, Escherichia coli counts, and yeast and mold counts. Three different methods were used to determine total coliform counts, which consisted of MacConkey agar plate counts, Colicomplete most probable number counts, and Petrifilm E.