The survival of these organisms in a product is essential to ensure their efficacy. It is important to accurately enumerate and differentiate the probiotic strains in a mixed probiotic population. The stability of probiotics is also determined by testing their survival during shelf-life studies of the products.

Identification or confirmation of probiotic strains can be performed using “genetic fingerprint” technology using our Eurofins IDmyk Comparative Sequencing system. 

Principle of the test

Selective enumeration by conventional viable cell count method

The conventional bacterial viable cell count method relies on the selection of suitable media and the accuracy of plating techniques. Most probiotic strains are facultative anaerobes or strict anaerobes. They require 36-48 hours to grow in a complex nutritional media. Aseptically, samples are dissolved in a sterile diluent and serial decimal dilutions are performed. Aliquots of selected dilutions are plated on appropriate media. The plates are incubated at 37 degrees C for 48 hours, after which the colony forming unit (CFU) is counted.

Microbial identification using the Eurofins IDmyk Comparative Sequencing system

Unknown bacteria samples can be identified using the Eurofins IDmyk Comparative Sequencing microbial identification software and 16S rRNA gene sequence database, containing over 8,470 entries. Routine bacterial identification is performed using the first 1,100 bp of the rDNA. 

Sample requirements 

Generally 20g of sample is required per organism. Please contact the laboratory to discuss your project requirements. 
 
Turnaround time: 5-10 days

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*The test is performed by Eurofins ams