Mycobacterial transport medium for routine culture of fine needle aspiration biopsies.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) offers a simple outpatient technique for specimen collection in child tuberculosis suspects with peripheral lymphadenopathy. To perform FNAB with mycobacterial culture on an outpatient basis requires use of a sterile transport medium to facilitate bedside inoculation, maintain organism viability and reduce contamination risk en route to the laboratory. The mycobacterial yield and time to positive culture following bedside inoculation into standard mycobacterial growth indicator tubes were compared with initial inoculation into an inexpensive "in-house" liquid growth medium. Of 150 FNAB performed, 57 (38%) cultured Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. There was one case each with non-tuberculous mycobacteria and Mycobacterium bovis BCG; the remaining 55 being M tuberculosis. Results were concordant in 142 (94.7%) bedside and laboratory inoculation pairs. There was no significant difference in time to positive culture between bedside and laboratory inoculation (16.2 days (SD 0.87) vs 17.1 days (SD 0.85)). Provision of inexpensive specimen transport bottles and practical tuition in FNAB should improve cost-effective diagnosis of tuberculosis at the primary healthcare level.

Sensory and preference testing of selected beef muscles infused with a phosphate and lactate blend.

Consumers expect beef products to be juicy and tender. In the present investigation four beef muscles, i.e. Biceps femoris (BF), Longissimus lumborum (LL), Rectus femoris (RF) and Semitendinosus (ST), were infused with a blend consisting of sodium and potassium salts, di- and triphosphates and lactates. The muscles were stored at 4°C for 24h, followed by storage at -18°C until the descriptive sensory analysis could be performed on all four muscles. BF and LL were also subjected to consumer sensory analysis to determine the overall degree of liking. The infused and non-infused samples did not differ significantly with regard to aroma and flavour. The infused samples were significantly more juicy and tender than the untreated samples. Although the infused samples were rated significantly higher in salty taste than the untreated samples, both treatments illustrated a relatively low mean value for saltiness. Both the infused LL and BF samples illustrated a high degree of liking. Therefore, the infusion of beef muscles with a blend containing phosphates and lactates could be applied successfully to enhance the sensory attributes of beef.