Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - a nucleoside triphosphate that functions as a universal coenzyme in all living cells: microbial, plant, and animal. ATP concentration serves as an integral indicator of the hygienic status in food industry enterprises, as it reflects the overall level of organic contamination – residues of plant, animal, and microbial cells. ATP monitoring is widely used to assess the effectiveness of sanitation (cleaning) of equipment.
At the same time, it is important to understand: the contribution of microorganisms to the total ATP pool typically does not exceed 1–3%, which is significantly lower than the measurement error of the ATP determination method itself. Therefore, hygienic ATP monitoring correlates poorly with actual microbial contamination and cannot serve as a direct substitute for microbiological analysis.
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) - an enzyme normally present in raw milk and it is inactivated in conditions of heat treatment. ALP test in pasteurized milk is used to verify if the heating process of pasteurization is done correctly.
CFU – colony forming units
FTU – formazin turbidity units
Fluorescence - the light given off by certain substances when it absorbs light or other electromagnetic radiation. First the substance absorbs the energy, then it emits light. When the light source is removed, the fluorescence stops occurring. It is a form of luminescence.
Fluorescent probe (tag, label). A molecule that is attached chemically to aid in the detection of a biomolecule such as a protein, antibody, or amino acid. Ethidium bromide, fluorescein and green fluorescent protein are common tags.
Fluorogenic substrate. A nonfluorescent material that is acted upon by an enzyme or microorganism to produce a fluorescent compound.
HACCP (Hazard analysis and critical control points) - a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe and designs measures to reduce these risks to a safe level.
Inhibition - the slowing or prevention of biological process or function by a particular substance or environmental factors.
surfaces. This instrument measure lights such as luminescence, fluorescence, light reflection, light scattering and light absorption in units determined by an instrument manufacturer.
Microbiology - the branch of science that deals with microorganisms.
MPN stands for Most Probable Number. A statistical method used to estimate the concentration of viable microorganisms in a sample, especially when they are present in low numbers. A sample is diluted in a series of tubes or wells. After incubation, the pattern of positive (growth) and negative (no growth) results is compared to a standard statistical table to calculate the most probable number of bacteria
Pasteurization - a process of partial sterilization, especially one involving heat treatment of a product at 60°C for 60 min or at 70-80°C for 30 min to make the product safe for consumption and improving its keeping quality.
PPT(parts per trillion) = mass concentration (e.g., ng/L).If you want to go from MPN (cells per liter) to biomass in ppt (parts per trillion by mass) : Biomass (ppt)=MPN (cells/L)×mass per cell (pg)Biomass (ppt)=MPN (cells/L)×mass per cell (pg)
For a typical bacterium with mass ≈ 1 pg,
Turbidimetry - the process of measuring the loss of intensity of transmitted light due to the scattering effect of particles suspended in it.
Turbidofluorimetry - the process of measuring of fluorescence in turbid liquids.
UHT (Ultra-high temperature processing) - ultra-heat treatment, or ultra-pasteurization is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food by heating it above 135 °C (275 °F) – the temperature required to kill bacterial endospores – for 2 to 5 seconds.