Oxidation-reduction potential and growth of Clostridium perfringens and Pseudomonas fluorescens

A new apparatus was developed for measuring changes in E(h), pH, and cell numbers. With this apparatus, the relationships of these parameters were studied at initial E(h) levels of 200 and 40 mv (pH 7.0), by using Clostridium perfringens and Pseudomonas fluorescens. One of the strains of C. perfringens grew more luxuriantly at the higher E(h), in the presence of small quantities of oxygen, than at the lower one in the absence of oxygen. P. fluorescens could grow at a relatively low E(h) (40 mv, pH 7.0) in pure culture but not in the presence of C. perfringens under the same conditions.