[Rapid method for indirect determination of total microbial count in perishable foods]

A method is presented for the determination in one hour of aerobic microorganisms (Total Plate Count) in food in the range between 10(4) and 10(7) bacteria per ml resp. g. This method was developed mainly for rapid microbial analysis of perishable foodstuffs. The method operates by polarographic measurement of oxygen consumption in a tight cell, filled with the liquid product to be evaluated. The correlations between microbial counts and oxygen consumption rates are shown for samples of pasteurized milk and semi-liquid egg.