ABSTRACT
Micro-organisms isolated from the pharmaceutical manufacturing environment, or which occur as contaminants of inadequately preserved products, require identification. There may also be other circumstances when process contaminants require rapid and reliable identification if heavy financial losses are to be avoided; contamination of a starter (inoculum) culture in a fermentation process is one such example. This chapter, however, is intended primarily for persons responsible for ‘routine’ identification of environmental and spoilage isolates rather than those working in more specialized fermentation or biotechnology facilities.
