Introductory Microbiology

Spontaneous Generation of Organisms

• The theory of spontaneous generation states that the microbes arise automatically in decomposing organic matter In the 17th century Francesco Redi worked out the appearance of maggots in decomposing meat depended on the decomposition of eggs by flies, but the idea of spontaneous generation persisted for the new world of microbes. T. Needham in 1748 experienced the appearance of organisms not present previously and concluded that these organisms appeared from the decomposition of the vegetables and meat.
• Later, Spallanzani (1729-1799) introduced the use of sterile culture media; he showed that infusion of meat, would remain clear indefinitely if boiled and properly sealed. This discovery was later on confirmed in the early 19th century, when a French confectioner, in the Appert, competing for a prize by Napolean, developed the art of preserving food by canning .In 1837, Schwann obtained similar results even when air was allowed to fermentation and putrifection were given by Schwann (1837) and Liebig (1839) To give more weightage, Schroder and von Dusch applied the use of cotton plug, to exclude air borne contaminants which is still in use.