To attend the food industries demands, rapid and sensitive methods have been developed to evaluate microbiological quality of several foods and water. The cleanliness of the environment in which foods are processed and stored must be monitored. Newly refined testing methods allow rapid monitoring and detection of bacteria, pinpointing any sources of contamination in food handling, storing and processing. Bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical reaction within an organism. The ATP bioluminescence assay (test) is based on the fact that all living cells contain adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP bioluminescence is not a microbial count method but it is sensitive enough to detect the ATP content of individual cells in small numbers. ATP is determined by using its reaction with luciferin, a light-emitting molecule found in fireflies.
MENU
