MALDI Biotyper® for Food Microbiology

The MBT has been validated as a complete food microbiology solution for confirmation of:

• Cronobacter spp.-Certificate N2017LR72
• Salmonella spp.-Certificate N2017LR73
• Campylobacter spp.-Certificate N2017LR74
• Listeria sppandListeria monocytogenes -Certificate N2017LR75

In accordance with ISO 16140-6:2019 and the MicroVal Rules and Certification Scheme version 8. The certificates are available onwww.microval.org.

The MBT has been certified according to the Official Method of Analysis program (OMA) of the AOAC International, for confirmation and identification of:

• Salmonellaspp.,Cronobacterspp.,Campylobacterspp. and other gram-negative bacteria - First Action AOAC Official Method^SM2017.09
• Listeriaspp.,Listeria monocytogenesand other gram-positive bacteria - First Action AOAC Official Method^SM2017.10

Thepaper describing the multicenter study在第一次行动2017.09been awarded by AOAC as Manuscript of the Year 2019.

The OMA 2017.09 and 2017.10 protocols are available onwww.eoma.aoac.org.

The MALDI Biotyper^®provides superior resolution, speed and sensitivity, tailored to the needs of food microbiologists. Fast data acquisition and highly accurate, reproducible results in a compact benchtop system make the MALDI Biotyper^®system ideal for all food microbiology applications.

The MALDI Biotyper^®is a Rapid Microbiological Method for microorganism identification based on proteomic fingerprints, useful in food microbiology. Its workflow has been designed to be as robust and easy to perform as possible. Only a few simple steps are required to generate a high-quality, reliable microorganism confirmation/identification - within minutes after detection of a positive selective culture, and without a time-consuming purification step. These time savings can be directly translated into significant cost savings in terms of lost product shipments and production line uptime.

The annually updated MBT Compass^®reference library currently (version 2021) comprises reference spectra of 3,893 species from 664 bacteria and fungi genera, including microorganisms important for food and beverage safety and quality controls. A dedicatedMBT Filamentous Fungi Libraryis also available, expanding the identification capabilities to 247 species / species groups. The reference libraries are not only a reliable source for confirmation of food pathogens or quality indicators such asSalmonellaspp.,Listeriaspp.,L. monocytogenes,Campylobacterspp., orCronobacterspp., but also allow the quality control of starter cultures and other fermentation, ripening/maturation strains, and the identification of microbial spoilers such as species ofPseudomonadales,Enterobacteriaceae, spore forming bacteria, yeasts and molds.

After a first identification to the genus or species level, theMBT Subtyping Modulescreens some characteristic peaks to improve the discrimination level. This deeper screening is automatically triggered after identification, no additional work is required.

The MBT Subtyping Module is very useful for several applications in food safety and food quality, such as differentiation of the closely relatedListeriaspecies for fast confirmation ofL. monocytogenes. This is now very easy, due to implementation of the MBT Subtyping Module into the MALDI Biotyper^®食品安全工作流程。

Also for the characterization of methicillin-resistant金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA) in livestock and raw milk, the MBT Subtyping Module is useful, by automated detection of MRSA isolates carrying the surface peptide PSM-mec.

Quality control laboratories that want to create their own library entries can make use of the optional MBT Explorer^®Software to compile customized in-house libraries dedicated to food microbiology. These might be libraries with site-specific contaminants and/or important species used for production such as probiotic cultures, lactic and acetic acid bacteria, fermentative yeast and ripening molds. Customer-generated libraries can easily be exchanged, e.g. between laboratories in other plants of the same company.