PROBIOTICS TESTING

BACKGROUND:

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that confer health benefits on the host when they are administered in adequate numbers (FAO/WHO, 2001). The survival of these organisms in a product is essential to ensure their efficacy. It is important to accurately enumerate and differentiate the probiotic strains in a mixed probiotic population. At AMS Laboratories the enumeration and differentiation of probiotics in products such as dietary supplements, foods and therapeutic products are performed by using the selective media that have been developed and effectively used in many research projects at universities and industries in Australia. The stability of probiotics is also determined by testing their survival during shelf-life studies of the products. Identification or confirmation of probiotic strains can be performed using “genetic fingerprint” technology using our RiboPrinter^TM methodology or biochemical identification to speicies level using Vitek 2^TM

PRINCIPLE OF THE TEST:

1. Selective enumeration by conventional viable cell count method:

 The conventional bacterial viable cell count method relies on the accuracy in using suitable media and plating techniques. Most probiotic strains are facultative anaerobes or strict anaerobes. They require 36-48 hours to grow in a complex nutritional media. Aseptically, samples are dissolved in a sterile diluent and serial decimal dilutions are performed. Aliquots of selected dilutions are plated on appropriate media. The plates are incubated at 37^oC for 48 hours. The colony forming unit (CFU) are counted.

        2.   RiboPrinter^TM microbial characterisation system (Qualicon Inc.) method:

Samples are prepared in batches and loaded into the characterization unit for processing in about eight hours. The RiboPrinter® system uses a patented technology to process bacterial samples and extract data derived from the gene fragments that encode their ribosomal RNA. That data is used to generate RiboPrint™ patterns, which are genetic fingerprints of individual samples. The system then compares these patterns against others in the database to characterize the samples at the subspecies level. The patterns can also be used to identify genus and species.

SAMPLING:

Please contact the laboratory to discuss your project requirements. 

Generally 20g per organism

 

TURN AROUND TIMES:

Turn around time: 7 days