Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The survival of foodborne bacteria on different cutting board materials has been studied and a
functional laboratory protocol for further studies on the subject has been established. Six different
bacteria, E. coli, S. aureus, L monocytogenes, S. Typhimurium, Y. enterocolitica and C. jejuni were
inoculated on plastic (polypropylene) and wooden (bamboo and beech) cutting boards in concentrations 101
- 107 CFU. The samples were incubated for 24 hours and then either streaked directly
on agar plates or incubated in enrichment medium before being plated. Growth or no growth for
each bacterial species and each concentration was registered. Unexpected difficulties regarding
contaminating background flora in the samples arose and were traced to the filtered chicken meat
juice used when inoculating the bacteria and environmental contamination during the drying of
washed cutting boards before inoculation. The results show that bacteria grow more readily on the
surface of plastic cutting boards. The study also indicates a higher rate of survival on bamboo than
beech. This was true for all tested bacterial species. Unfortunately, the results could not be validated,
since time did not allow for enough replications of the experiments. A functional laboratory protocol
is presented to be used in future studies on the subject.