Table 3.

Demonstration of the utility of SP-SDS for testing diverse samples with uncertain viable bacterial or yeast colony counts.

	Experimental sample/specimen	Anchored stock	Dilutions tested	Dilution yielding cfu	CFU range/sector	Av. cfu/100 μl	cfu ml−1 of 100 stock	Remarks
	Monitoring for bacteria on nutrient agar (NA)
1	Fresh tap water- non potable	Direct	100–105	101	25–30	137.5	1.38 × 104
2	Mini-aquarium fresh water	Direct	100–105	102	48–55	258.8	2.58 × 105
3a	Dry field soil	1 g/10 ml	101–106	103	9–11	50.0	5.00 × 105	Spreaders
3b	Dry soil- moistened overnight	1 g/10 ml	101–106	103	34–59	240.0	2.40 × 106	Spreaders
4	Banana root tissue	1 g/10 ml	101–106	101	10–16	65.0	6.50 × 103
5	Yakult®: Fermented probiotic milk drink	Direct	101–106	106	10–15	60.5	6.05 × 108	Claimed min: 1 × 108
6	Lignite based agricultural consortium	1 g/10 ml	101–106	103	6–13	46.3	4.63 × 105
7a	Mix culture of various organisms pre-antibiotic challenge	0.1 OD	101–106	104	18–32	145.0	1.45 × 107
7b	Mix culture of various organisms in antibiotic for 1 h	0.1 OD	100–105	102	11–19	76.7	7.68 × 104	No growth from 100
8a	Bottled pulpy orange juice- fresh	Direct	100–105	–	0	0	0	No growth
8b	Bottled pulpy orange juice-6 h open incubated	Direct	100–105	–	0	0	0	No growth
9	Opened tetra pack fruit juice refrigeration stored for 1 month	Direct	100–105	–	0	0	0	No growth
10	Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pau) pure culture on CNA	0.1 OD	101–106	105	31–42	178.8	1.79 × 108
10a	Tap water added with 100 μl of 0.1 OD P. aeruginosa per ml/tested on NA	0.1 OD	101–106	104	45–57	238.75	2.39 × 107	Pau + non-Pau
10b	-do- tested on CNA	0.1 OD	101–106	103	30–39	1.77	1.78 × 106	Only Pau
10c	Soil inoculated with Pau: testing on NA	1 g/10 ml	101–106	104	10–17	6.37	6.38 × 106	Pau + non-Pau
10d	-do- tested on CNA	1 g/10 ml	101–106	101	16–27	102.5	1.03 × 104	Only Pau
	Monitoring for yeast on potato dextrose agar (PDA)
1	Active dry yeast- Brand 1	1 g/10 ml	101–106	105	39–46	212.5	2.12 × 108	day 3 count; Pure yeast
2	Dry Bakers yeast- Brand 2	1 g/10 ml	101–106	105	37–55	230.0	2.30 × 108

Medium employed for bacterial cultures was NA in all instances unless mentioned differently; CNA, cetrimide- nalidixic acid-agar selective medium for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.