ABSTRACT
Rapid methods and automation in microbiology are dynamic fields of study that address the utilization of microbiological, chemical, biochemical, bio physical, immunological, and serological methods for the study of im proving isolation, early detection, characterization, and enumeration of microorganisms and their products in clinical, food, industrial, and envi ronmental samples. In the past 10 years, food microbiologists have started to adapt rapid and automated methods in their laboratories (Fig. 1.1). Con ventional methods of detection, enumeration identification, and character ization of microbes are described in reference books such as Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods (Vanderzant and Splittstoesser, 1992), Official Methods of Analysis of the AOAC (AOAC, 1990),
Bacteriological Analytical Manual (FDA, 1996), Standard Methods for the Exam ination of Dairy Products (APHA, 1992), and Modern Food Microbiology (Jay, 1996).
