The aim of this study was to evaluate the TEMPOⓇ STA automated most probable number (MPN) system for the enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in comparison with a standard culture method. Artificially inoculated food products with S. aureus - triangle kimbap, sliced spring onion, dried filefish fillet, danpatjuk (sweet red-bean porridge with small rice dumplings)- were tested in this study. Twenty-five grams of each of food samples were added into 225 ㎖ of sterilized phosphate buffered saline in a TEMPOⓇ stomacher bag followed by stomaching for 2 min. One milliliter of the stomached sample was added to a bottle of culture medium. Cards were filled and sealed in the automated filler and then were incubated for 24 h at 37℃. After incubation, the cards were placed in the automated TEMPOⓇ reader and MPN results were generated. For comparison with a culture method, decimal dilutions were prepared from the same homogenized samples described above, transferred onto Baird Parker and Baird Parker-Rabbit Plasma Fibrinogen (BP-RPF) agar plates, and then incubated at 37℃ for 24 h. The performance of TEMPOⓇ STA method is equivalent to the culture method using Baird Parker or BP-RPF agar count plate for the enumeration of S. aureus in foods, eliminating a time-consuming and laborious process.

Real-time PCR could help to provide answers to urgent questions about the incidence, prevalence, and epidemiology of currently emerging food-borne bacteria and diseases as identification and detection tools. The objective of this study was carried out to examine several critical parameters that must be optimized when converting from the ABI Prism 7000 SDS platform to the Cepheid SmartCycler Ⅱ so as to directly use the same primer and probe sequences. A lyophilized master mix-OmniMix HS bead, MgCl2 concentration, and PCR cycling conditions were evaluated so as to convert to a new platform, Smartcycler Ⅱ. The best optimal cycling conditions to detect Cronobacter sakazakii on SmartCycler Ⅱ were as follow: initial denaturation at 95℃ for 2 min followed by 45 cycles of 95℃ for 15 s, and 60℃ for 60 s using OmniMix HS bead contained 6 mM MgCl2 concentration. And the Ct value was 16.97 compared to 23.84 of Ct value in ABI Prism 7000 SDS. This result showed that when the several analytical parameters were taken the consideration for optimization, it could be performed assays between real-time PCR platforms. Also it is need of further study to develop the new single multiplex real-time PCR method for determining various Cronobacter spp. including three subspecies, too.