Accurate Enumeration of Aspergillus brasiliensis in Hair Color and Mascara by Time-Lapse Shadow Image Analysis.

The growth of black mold (Aspergillus brasiliensis) in black-colored samples such as hair color and mascara was measured with an automatic count system based on time-lapse shadow image analysis (TSIA). A. brasiliensis suspended in a lecithin and polysorbate (LP) solution of each sample (hair color or mascara) was spread on a potato dextrose agar medium plate containing LP. The background image darkness of the agar plate could be adjusted to attain accurate colony counts. 95 colonies in hair color and 22 colonies in mascara could be automatically determined at 48 h. The accuracy of the colony counts could be confirmed from the timelapse image data. In contrast, conventional visual counting at a specified time could not determine the number of colonies or led to false colony counts.