New publication: NMKL 140 Lactic acid bacteria. Determination in food in association with food spoilage.
Lactic acid bacteria constitute a heterogeneous group of microorganisms that produce lactic acid as the major metabolic end-product of carbohydrate fermentation. Lactic acid bacteria spoilage alterations include cheesy and acidic off-tastes and off-odours, gas formation and bulging of packages, colour changes, such as greening in meat, and slime due to exopolysaccharide formation. This method is intended to be used for the enumeration of lactic acid bacteria in food products and represents a general approach applicable to all types of foods.
The method was revised 26 June 2023 (Ed. 3), and the major revisions were:
The duration of incubation time was shortened from 5 to 4 days and the mandatory confirmation with tests for catalase and Gram reactions was introduced. Further, a taxonomic note was added that addresses the recent taxonomic revision of the Lactobacillus genus. The references have been updated, the procedural descriptions have been improved, and the method has been aligned with the new NMKL method template.