{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T20:46:34Z","timestamp":1763412394019,"version":"3.45.0"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763337600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Saskatchewan's Global Community Service Fund"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The ability to prepare sterilized media is a critical capability of any microbiology lab. Diagnostic labs in low-resource settings, which lack autoclave facilities, are therefore severely limited in their ability to perform basic assays such as bacterial culture or biochemical tests. This investigation aimed to validate the use of a commercially available pressure cooker as an autoclave substitute to produce agar plates. First, a\n                    <jats:italic>Geobacillus stearothermophilus<\/jats:italic>\n                    biological indicator was used to confirm adequate sterilization. Next, the colony morphology of several important bacterial species were compared on MacConkey and 5% sheep\u2019s blood agar plates prepared using the pressure cooker with those made in an autoclave. Finally, disc diffusion susceptibility testing was performed to determine whether the sterilization method impacts the inhibitory zone diameters. Overall, the morphology of colonies was similar on media prepared in both ways; key phenotypic characteristics (lactose fermentation, colour, shape, hemolysis and smell) were the same. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test results were nearly identical. These findings indicate that a commercially available pressure cooker may be suitable to prepare media in low-resource laboratories.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0336988","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T18:28:01Z","timestamp":1763404081000},"page":"e0336988","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluation of a commercial pressure cooker for the preparation of agar media for a diagnostic microbiology laboratory"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2636-406X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joseph E.","family":"Rubin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Florence","family":"Huby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6118-0100","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Roshan P.","family":"Madalagama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shyamali","family":"de Alwis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Melinda","family":"Wyshynski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rasika","family":"Jinadasa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0336988.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1300","DOI":"10.1111\/jam.13257","article-title":"Effects of steam autoclave treatment on Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores","volume":"121","author":"LC Huesca-Espitia","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Appl Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref002","article-title":"Disinfection and Sterilization Guideline.","volume-title":"Infection Control [Internet","author":"CDC","year":"2024"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0336988.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1021\/jf00119a031","article-title":"Inhibition of bacterial growth by Maillard reaction products","volume":"31","author":"H Einarsson","year":"1983","journal-title":"J Agric Food Chem"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0336988.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"702","DOI":"10.1086\/423182","article-title":"Disinfection and sterilization in health care facilities: what clinicians need to know","volume":"39","author":"WA Rutala","year":"2004","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref005","first-page":"297","volume-title":"Design of a Low-Cost Autoclave for Developing World Health Clinics","author":"GD Tao","year":"2013"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0336988.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0208769","article-title":"Assessment and verification of commercially available pressure cookers for laboratory sterilization","volume":"13","author":"VA Swenson","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0336988.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1128\/jmbe.v22i1.2577","article-title":"Growsafe: A Chemical Method To Deactivate Cultivated Microorganisms Using Low-Cost Kitchen Supplies","volume":"22","author":"AA Madden","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Microbiol Biol Educ"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref008","first-page":"217","volume-title":"Steam Sterilization in Autoclaves. Validation in Pharmaceutical Processes","author":"P DeSantis"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref009","unstructured":"Instant Pot. Instant Pot Ultra Series User Manual English. 14 May 2020 [cited 15 Apr 2025]. Available: https:\/\/p.widencdn.net\/oaks07\/IB_Ultra-Series_User-Manual_English_2020-05-14"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref010","article-title":"Systematic Appraoch of Autoclave Qualification: A Review","volume":"13","author":"A Talekar","year":"2023","journal-title":"International Journal of Medical & Pharmaceutical Sciences"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0336988.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1111\/1469-0691.12373","article-title":"Development of the EUCAST disk diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility testing method and its implementation in routine microbiology laboratories","volume":"20","author":"E Matuschek","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin Microbiol Infect"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref012","volume-title":"Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing","author":"CLSI","year":"2025","edition":"35"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref013","volume-title":"Development of In Vitro Susceptibility Test Methods, Breakpoints, and Quality Control Parameters. M23Ed6","author":"CLSI","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0336988.ref014","volume-title":"Procedures for Confirming the Acceptability of Mueller-Hinton Agar Sources for Subsequent use in CLSI and\/or EUCAST Studies to Establish Disc Diffusion Quality Control Ranges","author":"CLSI","year":"2023","edition":"1"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0336988","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T18:28:06Z","timestamp":1763404086000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0336988"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Tsegaye","family":"Alemayehu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0336988","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]}}}