Roles of Microwave Oven in Preparing Microbiological Growth Media

Christian Prijana; Yanti Mulyana; Basuki Hidayat

Roles of Microwave Oven in Preparing Microbiological Growth Media

Christian Prijana, Yanti Mulyana, Basuki Hidayat

Abstract

Background: Sterilization of a growth medium before being utilized is a very important step in a microbiology laboratory. The common method for this purpose is by using the autoclave. However, autoclaving takes more time. To overcome this limitation, we tried to use the microwave oven. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of microwave oven in preparing the growth media.

Methods: This was a laboratory experimental study conducted at Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, from October to November 2014. The growth media used were: MacConkey agar, in petri dishes, inoculated with Escherichia coli; Sabouraud agar, in petri dishes, inoculated with Candida albicans; Kligler iron agar (KIA), in reaction tubes, inoculated with Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhi; Simmons citrate agar, in reaction tubes, inoculated with Klebsiella pneumoniae; Mueller-Hinton (M-H) broth, in reaction tubes, inoculated with Escherichia coli; and Motility Indole Urea (MIU) semisolid agar, in reaction tubes, inoculated with Proteus sp.The media would be heated by microwave for 1, 2, and 3 minutes.

Results: From the total 54 dishes/tubes of various microwave-sterilized media, contaminations were only seen at 5 dishes/tubes. Most of the media, except the one-minute-heated Mueller-Hinton broth, were sterilized more than half dishes/tubes. The identification function of all media in this study was performed well.

Conclusions: The utilization of microwave oven as an alternative sterilizing apparatus for microbiological growth media is very potential, particularly for two and three minutes duration of heating. [AMJ.2016;3(1):1–5]

DOI: 10.15850/amj.v3n1.469

Keywords

media, microbiology, microwave, sterilization

Full Text:

PDF

References

Neumann O, Feronti C, Neumann AD, Dong A, Schell K, Lu B, et al. Compact solar autoclave based on steam generation using broadband light-harvesting nanoparticles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(29):11677–81.

Bhowmik G. Introduction to the laboratory. In: Bhowmik G, editor. Analytical techniques in biotechnology. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education; 2011. p. 27–8.

Brace CL. Microwave tissue ablation: biophysics, technology, and applications. Crit Rev Biomed Eng. 2010;38(1):65–78.

Chen L, Wang N, Li L. Development of microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis of proteins using a commercial microwave reactor and its combination with LC-MS for protein full-sequence analysis. Talanta. 2014;129:290–5.

Bhattacharjee MK, Delsol JK. Does microwave sterilization of growth media involve any non-thermal effect? J Microbiol Meth. 2014;96:70–2.

Carroll KC. Bacteriology. In: Brooks G, Carroll KC, Butel J, Morse S, editors. Jawetz Melnick & Adelbergs Medical Microbiology. 26 ed. New York: Mcgraw-Hill; 2012. p. 149–406.

Mitchell TG. Mycology. In: Brooks G, Carroll KC, Butel J, Morse S, editors. Jawetz Melnick & Adelbergs Medical Microbiology. 26th ed. New York: Mcgraw-Hill; 2012. p. 671–714.

Mani D, Arunan E. Rotational spectra of propargyl alcohol dimer: a dimer bound with three different types of hydrogen bonds. J Chem Phys. 2014;141(16):164311.

Kothari V, Patadia M, Trivedi N. Microwave sterilized media supports better microbial growth than autoclaved media. Res Biotechnol. 2011;2(5):63–72.

Geczi G, Horvath M, Kaszab T, Alemany GG. No major differences found between the effects of microwave-based and conventional heat treatment methods on two different liquid fodds. Plos One. 2013;8(1):1–12.

Bhattacharjee MK, Sugawara K, Ayandeji OT. Microwave sterilization of growth medium alleviates inhibition of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans by Maillard reaction products. J Microbiol Meth. 2009;78(2):227–30.

Teodorowicz M, Fiedorowicz E, Kostyra H, Wichers H, Kostyra E. Effect of Maillard reaction on biochemical properties of peanut 7S globulin (Ara h 1) and its interaction with a human colon cancer cell line (Caco-2). Eur J Nutr. 2013;52(8):1927–38.

Mohajjemzadeh F, Hassanzadeh D, Valizadeh H, Siahi-Shadbad MR, Mojarrad JS, Robertson T, et al. Assesment of feasibility of Maillard reaction between baclofen and lactose by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, application to pre formulation studies. AAPS Pharm Sci Tech. 2009;10(2):649–59.