Use of ATP-bioluminescence in the brewing industry.

Ehrenfeld, E.E., Scheld, J., Miller, S.A. and Carpenter, C.R.

Abstract
The use of the firefly bioluminescence reaction, whereby the presence of ATP causes luciferin and luciferase to generate light, for the instant detection of microorganisms and biological residues, the presence of which on equipment, etc., in food and beverage production plants is a sign of inadequate cleaning and disinfection, is described together with a new type of portable apparatus for carrying out the test. The "Lightning" system, developed by Idexx Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine, USA, consists of a hand held luminometer and disposable testing kits, each containing a sampling swab and measured amounts of luciferin, luciferase and ancillary reagents for such purposes as facilitating the release of ATP from the sample and neutralizing other sample constituents which might otherwise produce errors in the results. The system is very simple to use and highly sensitive (being able to detect less than 3 x (10 to the power of -14) moles of ATP, which is around the usual ATP content of a few microlitres of rough beer). It has also been shown to be fairly insensitive to chemical interference from detergents and disinfectants which have sometimes caused problems with other ATP bioluminescence testing systems.
Keywords : brewery contamination detection equipment hygiene test