I am trying to test whether certain compounds we have formulated exhibit antimicrobial activity and I am using Whatman 6mm assay discs. I want to sterilize them in the autoclave but after wrapping them in aluminum foil and sterilizing them on a dry cycle the discs came out slightly wet. Would this impact the disc's ability to take up solutions? Is there a way to sterilize them without the discs taking up moisture in the autoclave?
If you have an UV-Light, you could try to place your discs under the UV for an hour or more. This is only an idea though without any practical experience, so keep that in mind.
They can be autoclaved to sterilize them and then put in dryer for few hours to remove the moisture.
You can try radiation sterilization (i.e. gamma-rays or EB) but you need to perfomed trials in order to chek the antimicrobial activity after irradiation.
Sincerely,
Nicolas