Determination of Bacterial Numbers - In a given bacterial population not all cells are in viable condition. Viable cells are those which can grow and multiply in a nutrient medium. Although viable cells makes a larger proportion of the total population, a few of them will be in either non-viable or damaged condition.
Determination of bacterial numbers may include either viable cells alone or all demonstratable cells including viable and non-viable forms. The former is called total viable count and the latter one is called total cell count.
