Degradation of sorbic acid (SA) in fruit squashes and fish paste has been found to be influenced by the nature of the food material and the packaging system. Losses in SA ranged from 60-90% in polypropylene and 41-65% in saran coated cellopoly pouches to 22-30% in paper-aluminium foil-polyethylene laminate pouches and glass bottles after 150-210 days at 37°C. The rate of degradation was significantly higher in fish paste than in fruit squashes.The major portion of the added SO, in fruit squashes was lost during the initial stages of storage and the residual SO, (< 100 ppm) did not significantly influence the rate of degradation of SA. Browning intensity in fruit squashes and fish paste was also related to the oxygen permeability of the packaging materials. Addition of 0.1 % SA did not significantly influence the rate of browning but at 0.2%, a slight increase in the rate was observed.

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Testing MIC of Vancomycin for all staphylococcal isolates is mandatory according to the current CLSI guidelines and this will considerably increase the cost of culture and sensitivity testing. This study is an attempt to re-consider the utility of the conventional disc diffusion method for cost-effective testing in resource poor settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty coagulase positive and twenty eight coagulase negative staphylococci from various clinical samples have been randomly tested for minimum inhibitory concentration along with the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method for Vancomycin over a period of five months. RESULTS: Susceptibility results of all the 58 isolates tested have been identical by both disc diffusion and HiComb MIC methods. Out of 58 isolates, 57 (98.26%) staphylococci have been sensitive to vancomycin by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as well as by the MIC testing method. The MICs of the susceptible strains have been <2 µg/mL. One isolate, a coagulase negative staphylococcus, has been tested to be resistant to vancomycin by both the methods with an MIC of 32 µg/mL SUMMARY: In our study of staphylococcal isolates from various clinical samples, there is overt significant concordance between disc diffusion and MIC testing methods in the routine susceptibility testing of vancomycin. CONCLUSION: Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method may still be of utility for routine testing of vancomycin susceptibility except for few cases especially in resource poor settings.

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