Chick-Martin test

Chick-Mar·tin test

(chik mar'tin), a method of testing the in vitro efficiency of a bactericidal agent; a standard culture of Salmonella typhi, added to a fixed amount of sterilized feces or yeast, is tested for a fixed period (30 minutes) against various concentrations of phenol solution and various concentrations of the bacteriocide; the result is expressed as the phenol coefficient, the highest dilution of the bacteriocide that kills bacteria, divided by the highest dilution of phenol that sterilizes the solution, within the measured time.

Chick-Martin test

An obsolete method for determining the in vitro efficacy of a disinfectant.
Method
A standardised quantity of Salmonella typhi is added to sterilised faeces, and various dilutions of the disinfectant are compared with the efficacy of phenol as a disinfectant, yielding the phenol coefficient.