Rapid identification of Salmonella from poultry meat products by using 'Mucap Test'

A study was made in order to improve a new Salmonella identification test (Mucap Test) in which umbelliferone is released, giving a blue fluorescent light under a Wood lamp, after contact with Salmonella colonies. The study concerned 354 colonies, previously isolated from 55 poultry meat samples. Two enrichment media [Tetrathionate Bile Broth (TBB) and Rappaport Vassiliadis (RV)] and two isolation media [Brilliant Green Agar (BGA) and Desoxycholate Agar (DA)] were used, and the results of the test obtained respectively with each association were compared. The sensitivity was consistently good, but the specificity of the test was generally poor. The best association seemed to be RV/DA which gave 85% specificity, against 39% for TBB/BGA, 58% for TBB/DA, and 77% for RV/BGA. The predominant genera responsible for false-positive results were Pseudomonas and Proteus Providencia.