Table 1.

Comparison of SP-SDS versus SATS employing pure cultures of different organisms and composite samples.

No.	Organism/experimental sample	Working stock dilution for countable cfu	SP-SDS			SATS		Cfu ml−1 of 100 stock			Significance
			Cfu range/20 μl	Cfu range/100 μl	Cfu average/100 μl	Cfu range/100 μl	Cfu average/100 μl	SP-SDS	SATS	P (0.05)b
	Pure bacterial cultures (day 1 NA/NB stocks)
1	Escherichia coli	105	20–31	100–155	125.0	96–127	110.0	1.25 × 108	1.10 × 108	0.265	NS
2	Enterobacter cloacae	105	32–40	160–200	176.25	160–190	170.25	1.76 × 108	1.70 × 108	0.603	NS
3	Pseudomonas aeruginosa	105	31–42	155–210	178.75	168–195	183.75	1.79 × 108	1.84 × 108	0.671	NS
4	Bacillus pumilus	105	13–18	65–90	76.25	65–78	71.25	7.63 × 107	7.13 × 107	0.474	NS
5	Bacillus subtilis	105	11–18	55–90	62.5	34–51	41.5	6.25 × 107	4.15 × 107	0.474	NS
6	Bacillus thuringiensis	104	8–16	40–80	63.75	40–63	50.75	6.38 × 106	5.08 × 106	0.291	NS
7	Staphylococcus epidermidis	104	33–43	165–215	192.5	157–197	173.8	1.93 × 107	1.74 × 107	0.228	NS
8	Staphylococcus haemolyticus	105	30–37	150–185	163.8	158–198	185.5	1.64 × 108	1.86 × 108	0.128	NS
9	Microbacterium esteraromaticum	105	46–58	230–290	261.5	214–227	214.75	2.61 × 108	2.15 × 108	0.081	NS
10	Acinetobacter junii	106	4–9	20–45	33.75	23–38	27.0	3.38 × 108	2.70 × 108	0.391	NS
11	Bacillus subtilis spores	104	48–60	240–300	272.5	264–296	279.25	2.73 × 107	2.79 × 107	0.625	NS
12	Bacillus thuringiensis spores	103	46–61	245–305	262.5	256–298	272.75	2.62 × 106	2.73 × 106	0.453	NS
	Composite samples
1	Mix culture- pooled stocksa	PD	14–31	70–155	101.25	81–129	106.0	1.01 × 107	1.06 × 107	0.702	NS
2	Irrigation grade tank water	103	20–35	100–175	142.5	123–141	145.5	1.43 × 106	1.46 × 106	0.793	NS
3	Milk- freshly boiled	100–105	None	None		None		0	0	–
4	Milk- 6h open incubated	102	15–20	75–100	87.5	83–97	88.5	8.75 × 104	8.85 × 104	0.833	NS
5	Cut mixed-vegetables	101	19–32	95–160	118.75	88–111	100.8	1.19 × 104	1.01 × 104	0.294	NS
6	Rhizospheric soil of banana	102	35–47	175–235	207.5	165–211	183.0	2.08 × 105	1.83 × 105	0.203	NS
	Wine yeast
1	Saccharomyces cerevisiae	103	41–52	205–260	227.5	211–232	222.25	2.28 × 106	2.22 × 106	0.731	NS

Nutrient agar (NA) formed the test medium in all instances except for E. coli and yeast for which trypticase soy agar and PDA, respectively, were employed.

^aMix culture: Pooled working stocks of E. cloacae, B. pumilus, B. thuringiensis, S. epidermidis and M. esteraromaticum in equal proportions and cfu pre-determined (PD).

^bANOVA after logarithmic transformation; NS, not significant.