Detection of Salmonella in Food Samples by Culture and Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods

Abstract

Conventional culture methods for the isolation and identification of food borne bacterial pathogens are rather sensitive and quite inexpensive, but at the same time they are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Molecular techniques are more rapid and highly sensitive for identification of food pathogens. This study was carried out to evaluate a 12 hour PCR method for detection of Salmonella in food samples. The results showed that out of 150 food samples, 32 (21.3%) were positive by culture, 35 (23.3%) were positive by PCR, the sensitivity of PCR was 100% while specificity was 97.5%. The study concluded that the 6-h enrichment followed by PCR was rapid, simpler method that allowed the detection of Salmonella spp. within a maximum of 12 h.