Optimal Pyruvate Concentration for the Recovery of Conforms from Food and Water

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Abstract
Recoveries of coliforms in water and food samples were increased by adding sodium pyruvate to the Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) base layer, and Violet Red Bile (VRBA) overlay, of the Modified VRBA procedure described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Dairy Products. Six pyruvate levels (0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 1.0%) were tested. Counts were significantly lower (P≤0.05) on media containing 0% and 1.0% pyruvate than on the other media. Although 0.05% yielded the highest counts overall, there were no significant differences (P≤0.05) among 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1% pyruvate. Analysis by using a general linear model procedure revealed that 0.02% pyruvate was the statistically predicted optimal level to use in the Modified VRBA procedure.