In situ determination of bacterial growth by multiple headspace extraction gas chromatography.

This paper demonstrated an in situ headspace gas chromatography (GC) technique for monitoring bacterial growth using a commercial GC system with a multiple headspace extraction (sampling) mode. The technique was based on measuring the carbon dioxide mass in the headspace of a closed sample vial during the bacteria growth. A mathematic equation was derived in order to calculate the integrated amount of carbon dioxide produced by bacterial growth during the incubation. The method can be used to monitor the bacterial growth rate in a given cultural medium. The present method is very simple, sensitive, and safe.