The turbidity measurement of microbial cultures is a widely used method for determining the cell number of growing microorganisms by measuring their optical density at 600 nm.
OD600 refers to the optical density of biological cultures measured at this wavelength. The application focuses on measuring the OD600 of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria using a METTLER TOLEDO UV/VIS spectrophotometer.
By downloading this application package, you will receive a PDF of the application note as well as the required data for the LabX™ UV/Vis spectrophotometry software method.
What is OD600?
Optical density at 600nm (OD600) is a technique to determine the cell count of the growing microbial cultures. The phenomena is based on light scattering rather than absorbance.
Why use 600nm to calculate the optical density of biological cultures?
Optical density at 600nm is very specific at which the other cell components do not impact light scattering. Hence the cell cultures can be easily counted with no interference from the other components. Also, 600nm unlike UV is not harmful to the cell cultures.
Why and how to calculate OD600 of biological cultures?
OD600 serves as a critical quality control parameter in microbial testing for food safety, pharmaceutical, and biopharmaceutical applications. OD600 of biological cultures can be easily determined using a UV/VIS spectrophotometer.
