Beverage manufacturing processes are susceptible to spoilage organisms such as yeast or bacteria. Contamination can alter the odor, flavor or turbidity, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and, in extreme cases, product recall. Traditional monitoring methods require up to 10 days to obtain microbiological results before a product can be released. A rapid microbiology system which can detect potential contamination up to three times faster than traditional monitoring methods can streamline the QC process.

The EZ-Fluo^™ System uses fluorescence-based technology and is a convenient and sensitive platform for the quantitative detection of contaminants in filterable samples. This rapid microbiological method is based on a universal enzymatic fluorescent staining of viable and culturable microorganisms. The fluorescent staining procedure is non-destructive which allows microorganism identification following a positive result.

The principle of fluorescence detection is based on an enzymatic reaction. The fluorogenic substrate used is a non–fluorescent viability marker which is cleaved by non-specific ubiquitous intracellular enzymes resulting in a fluorescent product. Natural amplification of fluorescence by accumulation inside cells is an indicator of microbial metabolism. The dye is diluted in a staining buffer allowing cell membrane permeability and thus dye introduction into cells. Fluorescent microcolonies can then be counted using the EZ-Fluo^™ reader which can also identify colonies that can’t yet be seen by the naked eye.

Fluorescence detection is a non-destructive method that enables the microorganisms to continue to grow after they have been stained in order to identify them using standard ID technology.

Discover how you can implement this system for rapid detection of a broad range of spoilage organisms and read our application note, where the EZ-Fluo^™ system was used for rapid detection of Brettanomyces spp., lactic acid bacteria, and yeasts in wine.

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