Abstract: To evaluate the applicability of 3M Petrifilm^TM, DNP and MC-Media count plates for the determination of aerobic plate counts of tobacco flavors, the aerobic plate counts of 17 standard bacterial strains, one quality control sample for aerobic plate count and 56 tobacco flavor samples were determined. The morphology of the colonies on the three count plates and plate count agar medium was observed and the total numbers of the colonies were counted separately. The results of aerobic plate count were analyzed by correlation analysis and paired t-test, and the results of quantitative quality control samples were evaluated based on Z-score. In addition, the procedures of using three count plates and plate count agar medium for determining the aerobic plate counts of the samples were compared. The results showed that: 1) Except for the standard strains of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Paenibacillus polymyxa, which showed visible liquefaction on the 3M Petrifilm^TM count plate, most of the standard strains presented clear colony morphology on the three count plates and were easy to count. Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant (P < 0.01) positive correlation between the logarithmic values of aerobic plate counts of the standard strains on the three count plates and the plate count agar medium. 2) The results of the Z-score evaluation of the logarithmic values of the quality control samples for aerobic plate count were all "satisfactory". 3) Correlation analysis and paired t-test for aerobic plate counts of tobacco flavors showed that the logarithmic values of the aerobic plate counts of MC-Media count plate correlated best with those of the plate count agar medium (R²=0.922 8, P < 0.01) and the differences were not significant (P > 0.05). 4) Of the three count plates, MC-Media count plate was the most convenient to use, lest time-consuming, and more suitable for the rapid determination of aerobic plate counts of tobacco flavors.