Laboratory Methods in Microbiology

Book excerpt: Laboratory Methods in Microbiology is a laboratory manual based on the experience of the authors over several years in devising and organizing practical classes in microbiology to meet the requirements of students following courses in microbiology at the West of Scotland Agricultural College. The primary object of the manual is to provide a laboratory handbook for use by students following food science, dairying, agriculture and allied courses to degree and diploma level, in addition to being of value to students reading microbiology or general bacteriology. It is hoped that laboratory workers in the food manufacturing and dairying industries will find the book useful in the microbiological aspects of quality control and production development. The book is organized into two parts. Part I is concerned with basic methods in microbiology and would normally form the basis of a first year course. Abbreviated recipes and formulations for a number of typical media and reagents are included where appropriate, so that the principles involved are more readily apparent. Part II consists of an extension of these basic methods into microbiology as applied in the food manufacturing, dairying and allied industries. In this part, the methods in current use are given in addition to, or in place of, the ""classical"" or conventional techniques.