The sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) was acquired from LobaChemie (Mumbai, Maharashtra, India). Xanthan gum (Rheocare ® XGN) and polyethylene glycol hydrogenated castor oil (CREMOPHOR ® RH 40), were obtained from BASF (Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany). Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Liquid paraffin, potassium monohydrogen phosphate, and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate were purchased from El Nasr Pharmaceutical Chemicals (Cairo, Egypt). Trypticase soy broth and Mueller-Hinton agar were obtained from BBL (Darmstadt, Germany). Malt extract agar was obtained from Merck (Merck, St. Louis, MO, USA, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). The standard plate count agar was obtained from Hach (Ames, IA, USA). All reagents were used as received.