Practical Manual —

Food Microbiology EXPERIMENT 5 STANDARD PLATE

COUNT METHOD
Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Principle
5.3 Materials Required
5.4 Procedure
5.4.1 E-coli Culture
5.4.2 Food Samples
5.5 Observations
5.6 Result
5.7 Precautions

5.0 OBJECTIVES
After attending to this experiment, we shall be able to:
• undertake enumeration of viable microorganisms by SPC;
• perform the technique of serial dilution;
• do pour plating; and
• count colonies using colony counter.

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Often it is necessary to know the number of bacteria in a specimen, for
example, to ensure that water, milk or other foods are safe to consume.
Enumerating microbial populations is also important for evaluating products
such as antibiotics, vitamins, and preservatives. Several methods can be used
to determine bacterial concentrations. These include direct counts, plate
counts, filtration, and turbidimetric measurements.
The plate count is one of the most accurate means of enumeration of viable
microbes because you get a visual indicator for every cell in the specimen.
The technique stems from Robert Koch's insight gained from viewing colonies
growing on the surface of a spoiling slice of potato. In practice, a small aliquot
of a liquid suspension of microbes is spread on the surface of solidified
nutrient medium, which when incubated, leads to each cell 'developing' into a
visible colony through repeated fission.
The pour plate technique can be used to determine the number of microbes/ml
or microbes/gram in a specimen. It has the advantage of not requiring
previously prepared plates, and is often used to assay bacterial contamination
of foodstuffs. Each colony represents a "colony forming unit" (CFU). For
optimum accuracy of a count, the preferred range for total CFU/plate is
between 30 to 300 colonies/plate.

5.2 PRINCIPLE
The number of bacteria in a given sample is usually too great to be counted
directly. However, if the sample is serially diluted and then plated out on an
agar surface in such a manner that single isolated bacteria form visible
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isolated colonies (as shown in Fig.5.1), the number of colonies can be used as Standard Plate
a measure of the number of viable (living) cells in that known dilution. Count Method

However, keep in mind that if the organism normally forms multiple cell
arrangements, such as chains, the colony-forming unit may consist of a chain
of bacteria rather than a single bacterium. In addition, some of the bacteria may
be clumped together. Therefore, when doing the plate count technique, we
generally say we are determining the number of Colony-Forming Units
(CFUs) in that known dilution. By extrapolation, this number can in turn be
used to calculate the number of CFUs in the original sample.
Normally, the bacterial sample is diluted by factors of 10 and plated on agar.
After incubation, the number of colonies on a dilution plate showing between
30 and 300 colonies are determined.

Fig. 5.1: Series of dilution used in SPC.

A plate having 30-300 colonies is chosen because this range is considered

statistically significant. If there are less than 30 colonies on the plate, small
errors in dilution technique or the presence of a few contaminants will have a
drastic effect on the final count. Likewise, if there are more than 300 colonies
on the plate, there will be poor isolation and colonies will have grown together.
Generally, one wants to determine the number of CFUs per milliliter (ml) of
sample. To find this, the number of colonies (on a plate having 30-300
colonies) is multiplied by the number of times the original ml of bacteria was
diluted (the dilution factor of the plate counted). For example, if a plate
containing a 1/1,000,000 dilution of the original ml of sample shows 150
colonies, then 150 represents 1/1,000,000 the number of CFUs present in the
original ml. Therefore the number of CFUs per ml in the original sample is
found by multiplying 150 x 1,000,000 as shown in the formula below:
number of CFUs per ml of sample =
number of colonies × dilution factor of the plate counted
ml of sample plated
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 Practical Manual — In the case of the example above,150 x 1,000,000 = 150,000,000 CFUs per ml.
Food Microbiology For a more accurate count it is advisable to plate each dilution in duplicate or
triplicate and then find an average count.
One disadvantage of pour plates is that embedded colonies will be much
smaller than those which happen to be on the surface, and must be carefully
enumerated so that none are overlooked. Also, obligate aerobes may grow
poorly if deeply embedded in the agar.

5.3 MATERIALS REQUIRED

Cultures: 18-24 hour old nutrient agar slant or nutrient broth cultures of E.coli
Reagents: Sterile Dilution blanks (containing 9ml of 0.9% NaCl2 ), Plate count
agar (standard methods)
Equipment and glassware: Petri dishes, glass or plastic (at least 15 x 90 mm),
Pipettes with pipette aids, Pipette and petri dish containers, Incubator,
Colony counter, blender or stomacher (for food sample), autoclave

5.4 PROCEDURE
5.4.1 E. Coli Culture
1. Label the bottom of six petri plates 1-6. Label four tubes of saline 10-2,
10-4, 10 -6 and 10-8.
2. Using aseptic technique, the initial dilution is made by transferring 1 ml
of E. coli sample to a 9ml sterile saline blank (Figure 5.1). This is a
1/100 or 10-2 dilution.
3. The 10-2 blank is then shaken by grasping the tube between the palms of
both hands and rotating quickly to create a vortex. This serves to
distribute the bacteria and break up any clumps.
4. Immediately after the 10-2 blank has been shaken, uncap it and aseptically
transfer 1ml to a second 9ml saline blank. Since this is a 10-2 dilution,
this second blank represents a 10-4 dilution of the original sample.
5. Shake the 10-4 blank vigorously and transfer 1ml to the third 9ml blank.
This third blank represents a 10-6 dilution of the original sample. Repeat
the process once more to produce a 10-8 dilution.
6. Shake the 10-4 blank again and aseptically transfer 1.0 ml to one petri
plate and 0.1 ml to another petriplate. Do the same for the 10-6 and the
10-8 blanks.
7. Remove one agar pour tube from the 48 to 50oC water bath. Carefully
remove the cover from the 10-4 petri plate and aseptically pour the agar
into it. The agar and sample are immediately mixed gently moving the
plate in a figure-eight motion or a circular motion while it rests on the
tabletop. Repeat this process for the remaining five plates.
8. After the pour plates have cooled and the agar has hardened, they are
inverted and incubated at 37oC for 24 hours.
9. At the end of the incubation period, select all of the petri plates
containing between 30 and 300 colonies. Plates with more than 300
colonies cannot be counted and are designated too many to count
(TMTC). Plates with fewer than 30 colonies are designated too few to
count (TFTC) . Count the colonies on each plate. A Quebec colony
32 counter should be used.
10. Calculate the number of bacteria (CFU) per milliliter or gram of sample Standard Plate
by dividing the number of colonies by the dilution factor multiplied by Count Method
the amount of specimen added to liquified agar.

number of bacteria per ml = number of colonies

dilution × amount plated

11. Record your results.

5.4.2 Food Samples

1. Using separate sterile pipettes, prepare decimal dilutions of 10-2, 10-3,

10-4, and others as appropriate, of food homogenate. (For food
homogenate. Add 450 ml phosphate-buffered dilution water to blender
jar or stomacher sterile bag containing 50 g analytical food sample and
blend for 2 min. This results in a dilution of 10-1.)
2. Make dilutions of original homogenate promptly, using pipettes that
deliver required volume accurately.
3. Prepare all decimal dilutions with 9 ml of sterile diluent plus 1 ml of
previous dilution, unless otherwise specified, by transferring 1 ml of
previous dilution to 9 ml of diluent.
4. Pipette 1 ml of each dilution into separate, duplicate, appropriately
marked petri dishes.
5. Add 12-15 ml plate count agar (cooled to 45 ± 1°C) to each plate within
15 min of original dilution.. Pour agar and dilution water control plates
for each series of samples.
6. Immediately mix sample dilutions and agar medium thoroughly and
uniformly by alternate rotation and back-and-forth motion of plates on
flat level surface.
7. Let agar solidify. Invert solidified petri dishes, and incubate promptly
for 24 ± 2 h at 37°C.
8. Repeat step 9, 10 and 11 from culture procedure above.

5.5 OBSERVATIONS
1. Choose a plate that appears to have between 30 and 300 colonies.
2. Count the exact number of colonies on that plate using the colony counter
(as demonstrated by your instructor).
3. Calculate the number of CFUs per ml of original sample as follows:

The number of CFUs per ml of sample = The number of colonies (30-300

plate) × ml of dilute sample plated

____________ = Number of colonies

____________ = Dilution factor of plate counted

____________ = Number of CFUs per ml

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 Practical Manual —
Food Microbiology
5.6 RESULTS
Record your results and find the average number of cfus/ ml by adding the
results from all of your plates and dividing by the number of plates.

5.7 PRECAUTIONS
1. Avoid sampling foam.
2. Do not deliver less than 10% of total volume of pipette. For example, do
not use pipette with capacity greater than 10 ml to deliver 1 ml volumes;
for delivering 0.1 ml volumes, do not use pipette with capacity higher
than 1.0 ml.
3. Do not stack plates when pouring agar or when agar is solidifying.

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