Microbiological determination of penicillin G, ampicillin, and cloxacillin residues in milk.

A fast cylinder plate microbiological method was developed for the quantitative determination of penicillin G, ampicillin, and cloxacillin in milk. Agar plates seeded with stable spores of Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis were used and incubated at 64 degrees C for 4 1/2 hr. Standard curves were obtained for the following ranges of concentration of antibiotics: 0.004-0.064 IU penicillin G/mL, 0.0025-0.04 microgram ampicillin/mL, and 0.03-0.48 microgram cloxacillin/mL. The method is suitable for detecting penicillin residues in milk and for quantitative milk-out studies of the above antibiotics used in treatment of bovine mastitis.