OpenLB
Open Library of Bioscience

For a long period of time, microbiological analysis of samples gathered from individuals, food and environment was based on culture techniques which were considered "gold standard". These conventional methods are yet time-consuming (with respect to germ identification and characterization), cumulative costs are huge, which made research focus on obtaining methods with a rapidity / cost ratio higher than that of classical methods. Rapid diagnostic became as well a priority in the case of food-borne diseases determined by Salmonella spp. These methods of rapid diagnostic are based on phenotypic or molecular techniques for identification and typing, as well as on tests using biosensors and DNA chips, which are under development, and which use the capacity of real-time monitoring of the presence of multiple pathogens in food. With the continuous development of new molecular technologies allowing the rapid detection of food pathogens, the future of conventional microbiological methods looks rather insecure, the more so as there is continuous interest in improving the performances of genotypic methods regarding easy handling, reliability and low costs. The work reviews the panoply of Salmonella identification and typing tests available in the present.