Flora (microbiology)

Natural mineral

Nutrient agar

Ecology

Bacteria

Biology

Metallurgy

Materials science

Mineralogy

Mineral water

Food science

Bottling line

Genetics

Agar

Environmental science

Chemistry

Wine

Nutrient

Journal of Applied Bacteriology

Natural mineral water from a UK spring was monitored at various stages after it was pumped from the ground, through to bottling and during shelf life before consumption. Samples were collected in commercial PVC bottles, in PVC bottles previously sterilized and hand‐filled and in glass bottles. The bacterial flora was counted on plate count agar (PCA) and on PCA diluted 10 times (PCA/10). The predominant bacteria were identified to genus level. Growth rates and nutrient types of isolates were determined by the nutrient‐tolerance test (NT). The plate counts at the prebottling stage were low. During storage larger numbers of bacteria grew in glass than PVC bottles; the largest number grew in PVC bottles filled by hand. Most of the pigmented bacteria isolated were oligocarbotolerant.

Study of the bacterial flora of a non‐carbonated natural mineral water