Enumeration of Microbial Loads in Fruit Salad

Under aseptic conditions, 10 g of fruit salad was homogenized with 90 mL of sterile 0.85% physiological saline solution to establish decimal dilutions using the same diluent. After initial experimentation, three suitable serial dilutions were chosen, and the spread plate technique was employed to inoculate the respective culture media, with incubation periods per specific requirements. Total mesophilic bacteria (TMAB) was enumerated at 28 °C for 48 h using Plate Count Agar (PCA, Rahway, NJ, USA, Merck). Total psychrotrophic bacteria (TPB) enumeration took place at 4 °C for 10 days using PCA. Total yeast and mold (TYM) was generated at 28 °C for 3–5 days using Yeast Glucose Agar (YGC, Merck). Finally, total Enterobacteriaceae (TEN) enumeration was performed at 37 °C for 24 h using Violet Red Bile Glucose Agar (VRBG, Merck). The microbial load was expressed as log colony-forming units (CFU) per gram of fruit salad [15 (link)].