Pharmaceutical Industry strictly follows Good Manufacturing Practices which is driven by quality production and accurate hygiene control. Most pharmaceutical manufacturers rely on quality control applications that are convenient to use saving both time and money and also helping them reduce the risk of contamination. Lyophilized culture is one among those quality control products.

What is Lyophilized Culture?
The process of lyophilisation was initially developed in 1906 and the technique currently applied by NCTC is an adaptation of the method used during World War II to preserve and transport blood serum. Lyophilisation or vacuum freeze-drying is the most commonly used method to preserve biological material like bacteria by desiccating the moisture from the sample. The process of lyophilisation involves initially freezing the sample and then drying it under a vacuum at very low temperatures. It is an application of physical phenomenon called sublimation which means, the transition of a substance from solid to a gaseous state without passing through the liquid phase. During the process, the water in the frozen sample is removed as water vapour, and not letting it thaw at all. Lyophilizing the bacterial cultures let the cultures stabilize for long-term storage while minimizing the damage by outer contamination. Lyophilized microorganisms survive for a good amount of time and are easily rehydrated and grown in culture method even after storing for a longer period. It is also very important to know the melting point of your sample or else it can melt during the lyophilisation process.

Lyophilisation quality control cultures are suitable for use in assay validation, product testing and proficiency testing. The bacterial strains are supplied majorly as lyophilised cultures in glass ampules which have been flame-sealed under vacuum. In pharmaceutical laboratories, routine QC analyses are necessary to ensure product quality and safety as well as the health and well-being of patients and consumers. As these lyophilized products are convenient, they are also equally economical and most importantly, they are reliable and consistent.

Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Lyophilized Culture:
In Qualitative Lyophilized Culture, the materials represent a wide breadth of species or phenotypic, genotypic or functional characteristics which can be used to provide a yes/no answer.

Whereas, Quantitative Lyophilized Culture provides numerical information about the sample.
Being a responsible pharmaceutical manufacturer, one should always rely on certified reference material like LAB ELITE™ strains lyophilised microorganism and other ready to use strains of lyophilised microorganisms.

The quality assurance products by Microbiologics are available in a wide range qualitative and quantitative Lyophilized microorganisms that includes LYFO DISK™, KWIK STIK™, KWIK STIK PLUS™, Epower™ CRM and so on. If you too deal with pharmaceutical manufacturing and looking for quality and convenient lyophilised products for your QC analysis programme, then do connect with us. We are always here to assist you throughout the process.