This document provides information on various microbiological culture media, including their uses, control organisms, incubation conditions, shelf life, and price. It describes 14 types of agar plates (blood agar, chocolate agar, MacConkey agar, etc.) and 10 types of broths/tubes (trypticase soy broth, triple sugar iron agar, motility indole lysine medium, etc.). For each, it lists the microorganisms it can be used to isolate or identify and how to incubate and store the medium.
2. Blood agar (BA)
• Use : For the isolation, cultivation and detection of hemolytic activity of
streptococci, pneumococci and other particular fastidious microorganisms.
• Control organisms :
Streptococcus pneumoniae : Good growth, Alpha -
hemolysis Streptococcus pyogenes : Good growth, Beta-hemolysis
• Incubate: aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs.
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
3. Chocolate agar (CA)
• Use : For the isolation and cultivation of a variety of fastidious
microorganism.
• Control organisms :
Hemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrhoeae : Good growth
• Incubate : CO2 ,35 C ,24 hrs.
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
4. MacConkey agar (MC)
• Use : For the selective isolation, cultivation and differentiation of
coliformsand enteric pathogens based on the ability to ferment lactose.
Lactose–fermening organisms appear as red to pink colonies. Lactose-
nonfermenting organisms appear as colorless or transparent colonies
• Control organisms :
Escherichia coli : Pink colonies (lactose fermentation)
Proteus mirabilis : Colorless colonies ,no spreading
Enterococcus sp. : No growth
• Incubate : Aerobic, 35 C, 24 hrs.
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
5. Mueller-Hinton agar (MHA)
• Use : For antimicrobial susceptibility testing of a variety of
nonfastidious, rapidly-growing microorganisms.
• Control organisms :
Escherichia coli ATCC25922 , Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923,
and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 : Growth ,Inhibition Zone
followed Standard interpretative
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
6. Salmonella-Shigella agar (SS)
• Use : For the selective isolation and differentiation of pathogenic enteric
bacilli, especially those belonging to the genus Salmonella. This media is not
recommended for the primary isolation of Shigella species. Lactose-
fermenting bacteria such as Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae
appear as small pink or red colonies. Lactose-nonfermenting bacteria such as
Salmonella species, Proteus species and Shigella species appear as colorless
colonies. Production of H2S by Salmonella species turns the center the
colonies black.
• Control organisms :
Salmonella typhi : Colorless colonies, black centers.
• Escherichia coli : Pink colonies
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
7. Eosin Methylene Blue Agar (EMB)
• Use : For the isolation, cultivation and differentiation of Gram-
negative enteric bacteria based on lactose fermentation. Bacteria that
ferment lactose, especially the coliform bacterium Escherichia coli, Appear
as colonies with green metallic sheen or blue–black to brown color.
Bacteria that do not ferment lactose appear as colorless or transparent light
purple colonies
• Control organisms :
Escherichia coli : Good growth, green metallic sheen.
Klebsiella pneumoniae : Good growth, purple colonies, no sheen.
Shigella flexneri : Good growth, transparent colonies (lactose negative)
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 12 (return plate) , 15 (disposable plate)
8. Thiosulfate Citrate Bile Salt Sucrose
agar (TCBS)
• Use : For the selective isolation of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio
parahaemolyticus from a variety of clinical specimens and in
epidemiological investigations.
• Control organisms :
Vibrio cholerae : Growth (yellow colonies)
Vibrio parahaemolyticus : Growth (green colonies)
Staphylococcus aureus : No growth
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 15 (return plate) , 18 (disposable plate)
9. Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA)
• Use : For the cultivation of pathogenic and nonpathogenic fungi,
especially dermatophytes. The medium may be made more selective
for fungi by the addition of specific antibiotics such as
chloramphenicol. For the cultivation of yeast and filamentous fungi.
• Control organisms :
Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans : Growth
Streptococcus pneumoniae : No growth
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 4 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 15 (return plate) , 18 (disposable plate)
10. Trypticase soy broth
• Use : For the cultivation of a wide variety of fastidious and
nonfastidious microorganisms from blood specimen and in epidemiological
investigations. Also used for rapid estimation of the bacteriological quality
of water.
• Control organisms :
Staphylococcus aureus : Good growth
Uninoculated tube : No growth and clear
• Incubate : 5% CO2, 35 C , 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 10 for 45 ml of TSB (return bottle) , 8 for 27 ml of TSB
(return bottle)
11. Triple Sugar Iron agar (TSI slant)
• Use : For the differentiation of members of the Enterobacteriaceae base on
their fermentation of lactose, sucrose and glucose and the production of
H2S.
• Control organisms :
Escherichia coli : A/A (G)
Shigella flexneri : K/A
Proteus vugaris : K/A, H2S
Pseudomonas aeruginosa : K/N
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
12. Motility Indole Lysine Medium (MIL)
• Use : For the cultivation and differentiation of members of
the Enterobacteriaceae on the basis of motility, lysine decarboxylase
activity, lysine deaminase activity and indole production.
• Control organisms :
Proteus vulgaris : Motile / Indole/ LDC/ LDM ; +/+/-/+
Klebseilla pneumoniae : Motile / Indole/ LDC/ LDM ; -/-/+/-
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
13. Christensen Urea Agar
• Use : For the differentiation of a variety of microorganisms,
especially members of the Enterobacteriaceae , aerobic actinomycetes,
streptococci and nonfermenting Gram-negative bacteria, on the basis of
urease production.
• Control organisms :
Proteus mirabilis : Pink throughout (positive)
Klebsiella pneumoniae : Pink slant (partial positive)
Escherichia coli : Yellow (negative)
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
14. Simmons’ Citrate Agar
• Use : For the differentiation of Gram-negative bacteria on the basis
of citrate utilization. Bacteria which can utilize citrate as sole carbon
source turn medium blue.
• Control organisms :
Klebsiella pneumoniae : Growth and blue color (positive)
Escherichia coli : No growth, remains green (negative)
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
15. Bile Esculin Agar
• Use : For the isolation and presumptive identification
of enterococci (Group D streptococci).
• Control organisms :
Enterococcus spp. : Good growth, black
Alpha-Hemolytic Streptococcus, not group D : No growth, colorless
on media
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
16. Selenite-F Broth (SF)
• Use : For the isolation and cultivation of Salmonella species from
feces and other specimens.
• Control organisms :
Salmonella spp. : Growth
Escherichai coli : No growth
• Incubate : Aerobic, 35 C , 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
17. Phenol Red Glucose (PR Glucose)
• Use : For the determination of the ability of a microorganism to
ferment glucose. Fermentation is determined by the production of acid –
medium turns yellow.
• Control organisms :
Staphylococcus aureus : Growth (yellow)
Micrococcus spp. : Growth (remain orange)
• Incubate : Aerobic, 35 C , 24 hrs
• Shelf life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
18. Oxidative Fermentation (OF )
• Use : For differentiating Gram-negative bacteria based upon
determining the oxidative and fermentative metabolism of glucose.
Bacteria that ferment glucose turn the medium yellow.
• Control organisms :
Pseudomonas aeruginosa : Yellow (positive)
Acinetobacter lwoffii : Remains green
• Incubate : Aerobic 35 C, 24 hrs
• life : 8 weeks
• Price (Baht) : 5 (return tube)
