Comparison of enrichment procedures for isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from ground beef and radish sprouts

Abstract Enrichment procedures using Tryptic soy broth (TSB), modified TSB (mTSB), modified E. coli broth with novobiocin (mEC+n), mTSB (without novobiocin) with vancomycin, cefixime and cefsulodin (mTSB-VCC), or TSB with cefixime, tellurite and vancomycin (TSB-CTV) were evaluated by determining the rate of successful isolation of fifteen Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains from inoculated broth containing ground beef or radish sprout extract. E. coli O157:H7 tended to be isolated more efficiently after enrichment with TSB, mTSB and mEC+n than with the other broths. In order to identify the most efficient enrichmemt condition using these broths, E. coli O157:H7 were inoculated into 25 g ground beef or radish sprouts, which were then homogenized in 225 ml broth and incubated static at 37°C or 42°C for 6 h or 18 h. Attempts were made to isolate the inoculated bacteria by plating method in combination with the immunomagnetic separation method. The most effective enrichment condition was incubation in mTSB or mEC+n at 42°C for 18 h for ground beef, and in mEC+n at 42°C for 18 h for radish sprouts.