Question

What is the importance of defining detection limits for different plating methods and enumeration of bacteria in particular?

Answer 1

Detection limits for different plating methods is important for proper counting of bacterial cells.The number of bacteria or colony forming units are at times not visible due to improper dilution of the original sample.At times, the dilution for different plating methods might be incorrect as a result of which despite of the presence of bacteria in the solution, we are not able to see them on the plates and thus the enumeration or counting of bacteria cells goes wrong.To avoid such mistakes, defining detection limits for different plating methods and enumeration of bacteria in particular becomes important.