Determination of Lipolytic Bacteria

Determination of Lipolytic Bacteria

Species in the genera Alteromonas, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas, known as lipolytics, have the ability to hydrolyze triglycerides due to the production of extracellular lipases.

The analysis stages can be generally listed as follows:
• Inoculate a pre-dried VBB agar plate by spreading 1 mL of the sample on the agar.
• Place inverted plates at 5°C for lipolytic Pseudomonas. for up to 7 days and for mesophilic lipolytic bacteria at 30°C for up to 3 days. It is filled with copper sulfate solution (0.1%) and left for 15 minutes.
• The reagent is poured from the plates and the plates are gently washed in running water for 1 minute to remove excess copper sulfate.
• Where lipolysis takes place, a bluish green colored area should form around the colonies due to the formation of insoluble copper salts of fatty acids. This represents free fatty acids resulting from lipolysis of fat.
• The number obtained by colony counting is multiplied by the dilution rate and divided by the inoculation amount to calculate the number of lipolytic bacteria.

Determination of Lipolytic Bacteria can be performed in various dairy products such as butter and cream.