STUDIES ON THE MICROFLORA OF FLOUR

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Abstract
Bacteria and fungi, each cultured on appropriate media at 25 °C., were found to constitute the major groups of organisms in five brands of commercial flour. Numbers of these organisms showed the same trend in relation to brands and the difference between brands was found to be significant. In addition, these brands harbored mesophilic acid-producing bacteria, thermophilic flat-sour spores, anaerobic thermophilic spores, spores of rope-producing bacteria, and yeasts. Numbers of organisms in the latter groups did not show a consistent relationship to brands. The usual method for determining spores of rope-producing bacteria proved to be inadequate for obtaining counts of spores of species known to produce rope in bread. Replication of sampling and careful laboratory procedures were found to be necessary for obtaining reliable estimates of any population in flour.
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