The total mesophilic plate count is widely used as a broad indication of Microbiological quality, although it is unsuitable for this purpose in fermented foods sample, why is that?
Hi Twana,
The total mesophilic count will estimate as a whole, without differentiating them, the population of adulteration flora and the population from fermentation flora. Then, you will not been able to figure out if the fermented product has been contaminated with unwanted micro-organisms ( Coliforms per example).
It's better to assess both the fermenting flora ( lactobacillus per example ) and the adulteration flora to figure out the sanitary quality of your product.
Hope this is clear. Regards
contain a huge number of organisms as a natural result of their processing.
Hi Twana,
The total mesophilic plant count will be unsuitable in case of fermented food as there are chances of mesophilic contaminants active in the fermented food if kept in exposure to contamination or the result of poor quality control while the packaging David Sturm has answered nearly the exact same answer. It can also be understood by a condition that while the food sample has been a fermented product and the time the other mesophilic contaminants (one or more) were inactive due to certain reason and with due course of time after a certain time limit the microbe dominating the fermented food may start producing metabolites that other contaminant might consume. Although microbe in the food sample present in its packaging it can be slow but while being the mesophilic and getting the nutrient from the plate itself it has a good chances of experiencing a better growth then in the food itself.
Hope this might clear your doubt,
Best Regards