Microorganism Confirmation and Identification with Mass Spectrometry: The Rise of MALDI-TOF
Microorganism confirmation and identification are critical in a number of industries, including pharma, cosmetics, and food. In the food industry, pressures from regulatory bodies and customers alike are continually tightening, making accurate, rapid microbiology testing crucial for manufacturers to make rapid decisions in regard to quality and safety, for example, to detect possible food spoilage organisms or foodborne pathogens, or monitor environmental contaminants or technological microflora.
A wide variety of technologies are used to detect and identify contaminants and technological organisms in food, from traditional culture-based methods and molecular testing using polymerase chain reaction to increasingly sophisticated analytical technologies such as mass spectrometry (MS). The ability to identify bacteria, yeast, and mold at the genus or species level enables a deeper level of screening. Researchers and test manufacturers are always searching for more advanced methods for faster tests with higher accuracy and sensitivity.