Rapid Detection of Psychrotrophic Bacteria in Relation to Retail Beef Quality

Media and incubation conditions were compared to establish a rapid method for the detection of psychrotrophic bacteria from retail beef Of the methods tested, incubation of plate count agar (PCA) at 25°C for 24 hr gave the most accurate measure of the psychrotrophic bacterial population when compared to the recommended procedure (7°C, 10 days). Moreover, the initial bacterial load as determined following 25°C (24 hr) incubation was directly related to the retail case life of steaks. Increasing the temperature of incubation of PCA to 25°C results in a substantial reduction in the time required for psychrotroph enumeration, without loss of precision, and thereby provides a more useful estimate of retail beef keeping quality.