PARTIAL AUTOMATION OF MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSAYS FOR VITAMINS

The dispensing and turbidity measurement steps used in microbiological assays of B group vitamins were automated by the use of a Gilson hardware package, a specially constructed turbidimeter, an IBM PC-AT or compatible computer, and software written in-house to facilitate data entry, control the hardware, and calculate the results. Considerable improvement in the speed and precision of the turbidity measurement was achieved (1% compared to 3-12%). The precision of the dispensing operation was better than that of manual dispensing (0.02-0.8% compared to 0.4-2%), although the speed was not improved. However, results and errors obtained from the automated system did not significantly differ from those obtained by former procedures. This was attributed to growth response variations not related to the automated procedure. The automation process facilitated detection of errors and halved the operator time per assay.