The concept of dielectrophoresis (DEP), which involves the movement of neutral particles by induced polarization in nonuniform electric fields, has been exploited in various biological applications. However, only a few studies have investigated the use of DEP for detecting and enumerating microorganisms in foodstuffs. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of a DEP-based method for enumerating viable bacteria in three raw foods: freshly cut lettuce, chicken breast, and minced pork. The DEP separation of bacterial cells was conducted at 20 V of output voltage and 6000 to 9000 kHZ of frequency with sample conductivity of 30–70 μS/cm. The accuracy and validity of the DEP method for enumerating viable bacteria were compared with those of the conventional culture method; no significant variation was observed. We found a high correlation between the data obtained using DEP and the conventional aerobic plate count culture method, with a high coefficient of determination (R² > 0.90) regardless of the food product; the difference in cell count data between both methods was within 1.0 log CFU/mL. Moreover, we evaluated the efficiency of the DEP method for enumerating bacterial cells in chicken breasts subjected to either freezing or heat treatment. After thermal treatment at 55 °C and 60 °C, the viable cell counts determined via the DEP method were found to be lower than those obtained using the conventional culture method, which implies that the DEP method may not be suitable for the direct detection of injured cells. In addition to its high accuracy and efficiency, the DEP method enables the determination of viable cell counts within 30 min, compared to 48 h required for the conventional culture method. In conclusion, the DEP method may be a potential alternative tool for rapid determination of viable bacteria in a variety of foodstuffs.

介电泳 (DEP) 的概念涉及中性粒子在不均匀电场中通过诱导极化而移动，已在各种生物应用中得到利用。然而，只有少数研究调查了 DEP 用于检测和计数食品中微生物的用途。因此，我们的目的是评估基于 DEP 的方法对三种生食（鲜切生菜、鸡胸肉和猪肉末）中活菌计数的准确性和效率。细菌细胞的 DEP 分离在输出电压 20 V、频率 6000 至 9000 kHZ 下进行，样品电导率为 30-70 μS/cm。将DEP法计数活菌的准确性和有效性与常规培养法进行比较；没有观察到显着变化。我们发现使用 DEP 和传统需氧平板计数培养方法获得的数据之间存在高度相关性，无论食品产品如何，其决定系数都很高 (R ² > 0.90)；两种方法之间的细胞计数数据差异在 1.0 log CFU/mL 以内。此外，我们还评估了 DEP 方法对冷冻或热处理鸡胸肉中细菌细胞进行计数的效率。经过55℃和60℃热处理后，发现通过DEP方法测定的活细胞计数低于使用常规培养方法获得的活细胞计数，这意味着DEP方法可能不适合直接检测受伤的细胞。除了高精度和高效率之外，DEP 方法还可以在 30 分钟内确定活细胞计数，而传统培养方法需要 48 小时。 总之，DEP 方法可能是快速测定各种食品中活细菌的潜在替代工具。