Florenz Sartorius built laboratory tools and instruments for research laboratories at the University of Göttingen in the late 1800’s. In 1870, at the age of just 24, he formed his own company and developed the short-beam analytical balance, which significantly reduced the time needed for accurate scientific measurements.
Later, in a joint venture with Nobel Prize laureate Richard Zsigmondy, Sartorius went on to co-found a company that manufactured membrane filtration products capable of completely retaining tiny particles, bacteria and pathogens of a certain size.
Today, Sartorius is a global organization leading the biopharmaceutical industries with innovative products and services that continue to advance scientific understanding within the food, beverage and medical communities across all market sectors.
Recently, Sartorius, in Göttingen, unveiled new products to enhance microbiological hygiene in laboratories and significantly increase the shelf life of membrane filter technology, both of which play an important role in the quality control of wine and other beverages.
The Microsart® Manifold is a robust laboratory equipment used for the microbiological control of liquids by membrane filtration to detect beverage contaminants along any part of the production process chain.
The Microsart® Manifold promotes efficient microbial enumeration, colony counting and growth based methodologies, with new design features that enhance ease of use and the convenience of simultaneous sample filtration.
“The Microsart® filtration manifold is connected to a common vacuum source and has several branches, allowing for the filtration of several samples at once,” confirms Olivier Guenec, Sartorius’ Regional Business Manager for Microbiology. “The product range contains one, three, or six branched manifolds, which can be connected together to increase the number of filtrations with no limits.”
The multiple advantages of the Microsart® Manifold include:
- Less risk of secondary contamination
- Easy and intuitive handling
- Reduced assembly complexity (no tools required)
- Robust system (all stainless steel)
- Easy cleaning
- Flexible system in terms of direction of use
- Compact design, small footprint
- A more stable system, less wrinkling
Another important product for QC microbiology are the Sartorius Nutrient Pad Sets (NPS) which are sterile, dehydrated culture media that have been used successfully for many years in quality control of wine and other beverages. They are practical, easy to handle and simplify microbiological testing procedures.
“A lot of customers had been using agar plates so the microorganisms could get the nutrients they needed to multiply,” explains Juliane Grossman, Sartorius’ Product Manager for Microbiology. “With our NPS, the nutrients are dehydrated, so the shelf life of the product is increased for up to two years. There is no need for refrigeration. They are absolutely easy to handle, with a guarantee of fresh media every time.”
The Sartorius NPS portfolio is continually enhanced as part of the company’s ongoing development program, which adapts products to constantly changing application requirements.
All Nutrient Pad Set types come with pre-sterilized membrane filters, tailored to meet the special requirements of microbial detection. They are available with 47mm or 50mm diameters.
Discover more about the Sartorius Microsart® Manifold and Nutrient Pad Sets on the Sartorius Beverage QC wine page. Here you will find additional solutions for your winery process: sartorius.com/wine-qc.
