The increasing need for microbiological testing in the food industry has only served to expose further the limitations of the traditional techniques of food microbiology. It has also prompted the development of several novel and rapid methods for the enumeration and identification of micro-organisms in foods.
This book, which has its origins in workshops held at the University of Surrey in 1986 and 1988, reviews those techniques for which there is a reasonable corpus of published information testifying to their utility. It includes chapters on immunological techniques, colorimetric methods, electrical methods, ATP assay, DEFT, the use of hydrophobic grid membrane filters and the limulus amoebocyte lysate test. In addition to chapters describing particular techniques, the role of rapid methods is also viewed from the standpoint of a specific problem - the quantitative estimation of filamentous fungi, and a particular branch of the food industry - brewing. A final chapter speculates about likely future developments in the field of rapid methods.
The reviews are written by acknowledged experts in their various fields and the resulting book is an authoritative, up-to-date text which will not only serve as a ready source of reference on the different techniques, but will also give a wider view as to how they might be applied in different situations. The book will be useful for both post-graduate courses in food microbiology, food science and technology, and for those working in research institutes and the food industry.