A MODIFIED IMPEDANCE METHOD TO DETECT SALMONELLA SPP IN FRESH MEAT

This research was accomplished in order to evaluate the reliability of a new modified impedance method that should permit a rapid detection of Salmonella spp. in fresh meat. With this purpose Salmonella was searched in 288 samples of ground beef experimentally inoculated with 12 serotypes of Salmonella (S. brandenburg, S. bredeney, S. derby, S. enteritidis, S. heidelberg, S. infantis, S kottbus, S. london, S newport, S. senftenberg, S. typhimurium and S. virchow) applying our modified impedance method. Furthermore, Salmonella was searched in 274 samples of fresh meat of various animal species put for sale in retail markets, comparing the conductimetric system and the traditional cultural method. The impedance system gave very satisfactory results for the detection of the serotypes B, C1, C2 and D of Salmonella, whereas some difficulties were noted for the detection of S. senftenberg and S. london. On the whole, our modified impedance method is able to guarantee a rapid detection of a great variety of Salmonella serotypes in fresh meat, as confirmed also by the results obtained analysing the samples of meat taken from the retail markets. © 1993 by Academic Press, Inc.