Effect of Stored Pre-Poured Plates on Microbial Enumeration Using the Surface Plate Method ¹

The surface plate method, using freshly pre-poured agar plates and/or stored pre-poured plates and the pour plate method were compared for enumeration of microorganisms in fresh bologna, fresh ground beef, frozen turkey pot pie and bacterial suspensions of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Streptococcus faecalis . Stored pre-poured Plate Count Agar (PCA) plates were packaged in plastic bags and held at 5 C for up to 6 weeks before use. Aerobic plate counts were derived from plates incubated at 35 C for 48 h, 20 C for 5 days and 7 C for 10 days. Differences in counts between methods for a given sample, incubation and pre-poured plate storage period were less than 0.5 log cycle in 97% of the comparisons. Regression and correlation coefficients between methods were highly significant; correlation coefficients varied from 0.987 to 0.999, and regression coefficients from 0.977 to 1.068 between any pair of methods. Storage of pre-poured plates for up to 6 weeks appeared to have no significant effect on recovery of microorganisms, using the surface plate technique.