Rapid methods of detection of foodborne pathogens include biosensors, microscopic methods, immunological detection methods, and molecular detection methods. Biosensors can detect pathogens through metabolic patterns, phenotypic expression, nucleic acid analysis, and pathogen interaction with cells. Microscopic methods include direct epifluorescent filter technique, flow cytometry, and solid-phase cytometry. Immunological methods like lateral flow devices and ELISA use antibodies to detect pathogens. Molecular detection uses techniques like fluorescent in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction to detect pathogen DNA. These rapid methods aim to reduce detection time from days to hours compared to traditional culture methods.

1. RAPID METHODS OF DETECTION
OF FOOD BORNE PATHOGENS
Anchal
Food technology

2. NEED FOR RAPID METHODS :
-To reduce human errors
-Validation
-Automation and computerization
-Simplicity
-To save time
-To save labor cost

3. TYPES OF RAPID METHOD:
-Biosensors
-Microscopic methods
-Immunological Detection Methods
-Molecular Detection Methods

4. Biosensors
-Defined as the indicator of biological compound.
-Biosensing methods for pathogen detection are centered on four
basic physiological or genetic properties of microorganisms:
1. metabolic pattern of substrate utilization
2. phenotypic expression analysis of signature molecules by
antibodies
3. Nucleic acids analysis
4. Analysis of the interaction of pathogens with eukaryotic cells

7. Types of biosensors:
1) Bacterial bioluminescence
2) Fiber optic biosensor
3) Electrical impedance biosensor
4) Piezoelectric biosensors
5) ATP Bioluminescence

8. 1. Bacterial bioluminescence:
-Gene responsible for bacterial bioluminescence (lux gene) has
been identified and cloned.
-The DNA carrying this gene can be introduced into the host
specific phages.
-These phages do not posses the intracellular biochemistry
necessary to express this gene, remain dark.
-On transfer of lux gene to the host bacterium during infection
results in light emission that can be easily detected by
luminometers
This technique can be used to detect 1 x 102 cells in 60 minutes
Specificity of this assay depends on phage specificity
Eg. Bacteriophage p22 is specific for salmonella typhimurium

9. LUX
GENE
E.Coli

11. Fiber optic biosensor
-Basic principle of this is that when light propagates
through the core of the optical fiber i.e. waveguide .
-It generates an evanescent field outside the surface
of the waveguide
-When fluorescent labeled analytics such as
pathogens or toxins bound to the surface of the
waveguide ,are excited by evanescent wave
generated by laser (635nm) and emit fluorescent
signal
-Signal travels back through the waveguide in high

13. Electrical impedance biosensor
-Detects microbes directly due to production of ions from
metabolic end products or indirectly from liberation co2
-Microbes metabolism results in an increase in both conductance
and capacitance ,causing decrease in impedance.
-A bridge circuit measures impedance .
Method :
-Population of microbes provided with nutrients (non-electrolyte)
like lactose
-Microbes utilize it ,and convert into lactic acid (ionic form),thus
changing the impedance.
-Impedance is measured over 20 hours after inoculation in
specific media.

15. Advantages :
-Simple to perform
-faster than agar plate count
-capable of analyzing hundreds of sample at the
same time since the instrument (bactometer) is
computer driven
Disadvantages:
-Applicable for samples with high number of
microorganisms
-food matrix may interfere with the analysis

16. Piezoelectric biosensors:
-General principle is based on coating the surface of
piezoelectric sensor with a selective binding
substances .
-e.g. antibodies to bacteria and then placing it in a
solution containing bacteria
-The bacteria will bind to the antibodies
and the mass of the crystal will increase
while the resonance will decrease proportionally.

17. ATP Bioluminescence
-This technique measures the emission of light produced by an
enzymatic reaction bet
-between luciferin and luciferase that requires the presence of
ATP .
-The amount of light produced is proportional to the
concentration of ATP and therefore the number of
microorganisms in a sample.
-Only applicable if number of microorganism is high ,more than
104 CFU/g.
- Used to measure the cleanliness of surface that come into
contact with food ,including the presence of organic residues
and microbial contaminants.

18. -Lacks specificity
-more specific way includes an IMS step for capturing target
microorganism, which is then detected by bioluminescence.

19. Microscopic methods:
1)Direct Epifluorescent Filter Technique
2)Flow Cytometry
3)Solid-Phase Cytometry

20. Flow Cytometry
-Flow cytometry quantitatively measures optical characteristics
of cells when they are forced to pass individually through a
beam of light.
-Fluorescent dyes can be used to test the viability and
metabolic state of microorganisms .
-Samples are injected into a fluid (dye), which passes through a
sensing medium in a flow cell.
-The cells are carried by the laminar flow of water through a
focus of light, each cell emits a pulse of fluorescence, and the
scattered light is collected by lenses and directed onto selective
detectors (photomultiplier tubes).

21. -This technique is fast, automatic, and potentially very specific, as
long as appropriate dyes are available for selectively labeling
specific types of microorganisms and appropriate methods for
separating cells from food are utilized so as not to interfere with
detection.
-The sensitivity of flow Cytometry is low .
-The detection limit with food samples is around 105–107 CFU/g .
-Currently, there are various flow cytometry methods developed
for foods, especially for liquid samples such as dairy products,
water, and other beverages.

22. photomultipli
er tubes

23. Solid-Phase Cytometry
-Solid-phase cytometry (SPC) is a technique that combines
aspects of flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy.
-After filtration of the sample, the retained microorganisms are
fluorescently labeled with argon laser excitable dyes on the
membrane filter and automatically counted by a laser scanning
device.
Each fluorescent spot can be visually inspected with an
epifluorescence microscope connected to a scanning device by
a computer-driven moving stage.
-Depending on the fluorogenic labels used, information on the
identity and the physiological status of the microorganisms can
be obtained within a few hours.

24. -only applicable if the number of bacteria present is high (103–
104 CFU/g).
-Recommended for the determination of the total viable
microbial count in liquid samples, and enumeration of
pathogens in food samples.

25. Direct Epifluorescent Filter Technique
-The direct epifluorescent filter technique (DEFT) is a
microscopic method for the enumeration of viable cells
in a sample.
-Based on the binding properties of the fluoro- chrome
acridine orange.
-Once treated with detergents and proteolytic
enzymes, the samples are filtered through a
polycarbonate membrane.
-The cells are stained on this same filter and examined
under an epifluorescent microscope ,a process that

27. -DEFT is a very labor-intensive technique
-Does not have the capability of processing a large
number of samples
-Only applicable if the number of bacteria present is
high (103–104 CFU/g)
-Additionally, fluo- rescent food material can be
trapped on the filter, and the technique can only be
used with raw food and usually for enumerating total
viable microorganisms.
-DEFT may be used for the detection and
enumeration of specific bacteria in food samples

28. Immunological Detection Methods:
-The antibody-based system has facilitated the design of a
variety of assays and formats.
-Incubation times are usually very short for methods such as
agglutination reactions commonly used for the rapid
identification of microorganisms .
-Normally, the antibody is labeled with a fluorescent reagent or
with an enzyme so that the antigen–antibody interaction may be
visualized more easily when it occurs.
-In some cases, the antigen–antibody complex formed is directly
measurable or even visible.

29. Types :
1)LFD
2)ELISA

30. Lateral Flow Devices
-Lateral flow devices (LFD) are typically comprised of a
simple dipstick made of a porous membrane that
contains colored latex beads or colloidal gold particles
coated with detection antibodies targeted toward a
specific microorganism.
-The particles are found on the base of the dipstick,
which is put in contact with the enrichment medium.
-If the target organism is present, then it will bind with
the colored particles.
-This conjugated cell/particle moves by capillary action
until it finds the immobilized capture antibodies.

31. -Upon binding with these, it forms a colored line that is clearly
visible in the device window, indicating a positive result.
-As with other immunoassays, LFD also require previous
enrichment.
-The technique is extremely simple to use and easy to interpret,
requires no washing or manipulation, and can be completed
within 10 min after culture enrichment.
-There are various LFD on the market that have been validated

33. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and
Enzyme-Linked Fluorescence Assay
-The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is
a biochemical technique.
-That combines an immunoassay with an enzymatic
assay. As LFD, it is a “sandwich” assay.
-An antibody bound to a solid matrix is used to
capture the antigen from enrichment cultures and a
second antibody conjugated to an enzyme is used for
detection.

35. -The enzyme is capable of generating a product
detectable by a change in color, or in the case of
enzyme-linked fluorescence assay (ELFA) in
fluorescence, which allows for indirect measurement
using spectrophotometry of the antigen present in the
sample.
-Detection using automated and robotic ELISAs is
widely used since they can reduce detection times
after enrichment to as low as 1–3 h.
-Thus, the results can be obtained in 2–3 days
instead of the 3–5 days needed by conventional
method.

36. Molecular Detection Methods:
There has been an explosion in the past 15 years in
the introduction of nucleic acid– based assays for the
detection and identification of foodborne pathogens.
There are many DNA-based assay formats, but only
probes and nucleic acid amplification techniques have
been developed commercially for detecting foodborne
pathogens.
TYPES:
1)Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization
2)Polymerase Chain Reaction

37. Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization
-Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with
oligonucleotide probes directed at rRNA is the most
common method among molecular techniques not
based on PCR.
-The probes used by FISH tend to be 15–25
nucleotides in length, and are covalently labeled at
their 5¢ end with fluorescent labels.
-After hybridization, the specifically stained cells are
detected using epifluorescence microscopy .

38. The detection limit of this technique is around 104
CFU/g.
Following pre-enrichment to reach these detection
levels, the results can be obtained quickly (in about 3
h).
FISH in combination with flow cytometry has been
used for rapid culture-independent detection of
Salmonella spp. on the surfaces of tomatoes and
other fresh produce.

40. Polymerase Chain Reaction
There are three main processing steps in PCR:
1. Denaturation
2. Annealing
3. Extension
In the first step of the PCR method, DNA is heated to 95-
98oC, at which point
double stranded DNA separates into two single strands.
In the annealing step , synthetic oligonucleotide primers
are added and bind to the single
strands at a temperature of 55oC.

41. Finally, in the last step of the process the primer exten
ded by DNA polymerase in the presence of adenine, g
uanine, cytosine,and thymine.
The extension by polymerase occurs at a temperature
near 72oC.
These three steps result in new DNA strands that are
complementary to the original
strand that was separated in step 1 .

43. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method used for the In-vitro enzymatic
synthesis of specific DNA sequences by Taq and other thermoresistant DNA
polymerases.
PCR uses oligonucleotide primers that are usually 20–30 nucleotides in
length and whose sequence is homologous to the ends of the genomic DNA
region to be amplified.
The method is performed in repeated cycles, so that the products of one
cycle serve as the DNA template for the next cycle, doubling the number of
target DNA copies in each cycle
The rapid increase in the number of copies of the target sequence that can
be achieved with PCR-based methods makes them ideal candidates for the
development of faster microbiological detection systems.
Many PCR tests have been validated and commercialized to make PCR a
standard tool used by food microbiology laboratories to detect pathogens in
foods.

44. Conventional PCR relies on amplification of the target gene(s) in a
thermocycler, separation of PCR products by gel electrophoresis, followed by
visualization and analysis of the resulting electrophoretic patterns, a process
that can take a number of hours.
The specificity can be subsequently confirmed by sequencing the amplified
fragment.
PCR can be superior to culture for detecting the main pathogens in food
samples.
Real-time PCR
It allows both the detection and quantification of a signal emitted by the
amplified product by using the continuous measurement of a fluorescent label
during the PCR reaction.
The increase in fluorescence can be monitored in real time, which allows
accurate quantification over several orders of magnitude of the DNA target
sequence.

45. There are two general techniques
used to obtain a fluorescent signal from
the amplification of product in PCR.
The first technique uses the inherent
properties of fluorescent dyes such as SYBR Green I .
As the dyes bind to dsDNA and undergo
a change in shape, it increases their fluorescence

46. The second approach uses fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET).
FRET relies on the presence of 2molecules that interact with one another, wh
ere at least one of the molecules must have fluorescent properties.
The fluorescent molecule is known as the donor, while
The non-fluorescent molecule is known as the acceptor.
During fluorescent resonance energy transfer, the donor molecule is
excited by an external source.
It emits light at a shifted, longer wavelength,
which is then used to excite the acceptor molecule.
It is not necessary for the acceptor molecule to emit light.
The signal emanating from the acceptor molecule will be detected
using the real-time instrument.

48. •Advantages:
One of the main advantages over traditional PCR is that real-
time PCR collects data in the exponential growth
phase as opposed to the plateau phase.
Results can be obtained in an hour or less, which is consider- ably faster
than conventional PCR.
Real-time PCR has greatly increased the speed and sensitivity of PCR-
based detection methods .
PCR requires only about 30–90 min.
Aside from that, if a positive result for PCR is reached, this must be
confirmed using cultures.
The limit of quantification of real-time PCR with food samples is around 103–
104 CFU/g.

49. All currently available commercial real-time PCR into
qualitative detection methods instead of quantitative.
In some cases, multiple different microorganisms may be
detected in a single PCR reaction by amplifying the
corresponding loci simultaneously.
In this type of multiplex PCR reaction, all necessary primers
are combined in a single tube for detecting the presence of the
main pathogens associated with a given food or the main
subtypes within a given species.

50. Method Detection Li
mit
[cfu mL-
1 or g]
Time Before
Result
(hour)
Specificity
Bioluminesce
nce
104 0.5 No
Impedimetry 1 6-24 Moderate/go
od
Immunologica
l Method
104 1-2 Moderate/go
od
Nucleic Acid
Based As-
says
103 6-12 Excellent