Our Core Services
Valicentra provides specialized microbiological testing services for the development, quality control, and regulatory support of microbial products. Most of our services are based on Colony Forming Unit (CFU) enumeration, allowing us to assess viability, potency, stability, and product performance throughout development and manufacturing.
Services can be performed under both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) (expected from October 2026) and non-GLP, depending on your project and regulatory requirements.
Whether you need support with microbiological quality control, stability testing, method validation, or product development, we tailor our testing strategy to your product and scientific objectives.
CFU-Based Testing Services
- Bacterial quantification
- Method development and validation
- Stability studies (shelf-life)
- Long-term
- Accelerated
- Quality control (QC) testing
- Contamination testing
- Residue studies
- pH and temperature interval and optimum studies
- 5-batch studies (package testing)
- Other product performance tests, e.g., biofilm assays
- Consultancy
Additional Microbiological Services
- Method development and validation
- Contamination testing
- 5-batch studies (package testing)
- Other product performance tests, e.g., biofilm assays
- Consultancy
Most of our analytical services are based on CFU enumeration and are designed to generate reliable data for product development, routine quality control, and regulatory submission
In addition to our core offerings, we are flexible and can adapt or develop new study designs based on specific client needs.
See below for a quick overview.
Bacterial quantification → CFU enumeration
Fast, reliable determination of microbial concentration.
CFU enumeration is often used to determine spore concentration in biological products such as high-concentration Bacillus-based products and formulations. It can also be used to determine vegetative cells.
What this service delivers:
- Robust and reproducible enumeration methods
- Suitable for complex formulations
- Certificate of Analysis (CoA)
Ideal for: quality control, and regulatory submissions.
Method development and validation
When methods (e.g., CFU and contamination) require validation, standard methods are insufficient or need to be adapted.
Developing and validating methods for your product before performing routine testing can help you both during regulatory submissions and in achieving reproducible, stable routine testing.
What this service delivers:
- Product-specific method development
- Combined with a CFU CoA
Ideal for: new products, complex matrices, and regulatory-critical data.
Stability studies
Stability performance of your product – can be assessed both long-term and accelerated.
Stability studies are designed to evaluate shelf-life and how microbial concentration may change over time under defined storage conditions.
What this service delivers:
- Long-term study design (e.g. 2-year studies)
- Short-term study design (e.g., 50-54 °C for 2-4 weeks)
- Consistent CFU monitoring
- Data supporting shelf-life and regulatory submissions
- Data supporting your advice on proper storage conditions for your customers.
Ideal for: shelf-life determination and regulatory submissions.
Quality control (QC) testing
Reliable routine testing to ensure product quality and consistency.
We aim to provide CFU-based quality control testing to support ongoing product monitoring. Our QC services include microbial enumeration and can be combined with contamination assessment depending on your product and requirements.
What this service can deliver:
- Routine CFU enumeration
- Integration with Certificate of Analysis (CoA)
- Testing adapted to complex formulations
- Contamination testing
Ideal for: routine quality control
Contamination testing
Detection of unwanted microorganisms.
We aim to offer targeted contamination testing to identify and quantify potential microbial contaminants, ensuring product safety and compliance with regulatory standards.
What this service can deliver:
- Full contamination panel testing (e.g. Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, Vibrio spp., yeast, mold, coliforms, anaerobes)
- Testing tailored to product type and matrix
- Support for safety and regulatory requirements
Ideal for: product safety testing and regulatory compliance
5-batch studies
Essential to register pesticides.
We aim to perform 5-batch studies to evaluate consistency in microbial concentration, impurities and product quality, supporting reliable scale-up and regulatory submissions.
What this service can deliver:
- CFU analysis across batches
- Integrated contamination assessment
- Data packages suitable for regulatory documentation
Ideal for: product registration, regulatory compliance
Residue studies
Understanding microbial persistence in real-world environments.
We aim to offer evaluation on how microbial products persist on plant surfaces, soil, and root systems over time under defined conditions.
What this service can deliver:
- Residue tracking on plant material, soil, and roots
- Time-course CFU analysis
- Data supporting environmental and regulatory assessments
Ideal for: human health and environmental risk assessment
pH and temperature interval and optimum studies
Understanding how environmental conditions shape microbial behavior and sporulation.
We aim to offer evaluation of how temperature and pH influence growth, viability, and sporulation timing of microbial products, generating data that supports both safety risk assessment and practical application decisions.
What this service can deliver:
- Determination of growth and sporulation intervals across defined temperature ranges
- Identification of pH tolerance limits and optimum conditions
- Sporulation timing data to guide field application windows (e.g. advising when to apply a biological pesticide for optimal spore formation)
- Insights to inform formulation strategies and product stability
Ideal for: safety risk assessment, formulation development, and agronomic application guidance for farmers and clients
Consultancy
Guidance in microbiological handling.
We support clients with study design, and optimization of microbiological handling and testing.
What this service can deliver:
- Support fo study design
- Support for microbiological product handling and formulation
- Troubleshooting and method optimization
- Tailored study development based on specific needs
Ideal for: early-stage development, problem-solving, and root-cause-analysis
What Our GLP Study Services Will Include:
- Pre-testing (non-GLP) to identify technical challenges.
- Fit-for-purpose method selection, both technically and scientifically.
- GLP-ready documentation aligned with regulatory requirements.
- Long-term archiving of data.