Top Culture Media Brands You Should Know

 

Culture Media can be a liquid, semi-solid or solid specifically designed to support the growth of a colossal number of microorganisms or cells such as fungi and bacteria, using a process called cell proliferation. In 1860, Louis Pasteur, who was a renowned microbiologist and chemist, created the first liquid artificial culture medium. 

Culture media are commonly used for the general improvement and maintenance of bacteria kept in laboratory culture collections because they contain all the elements that most bacteria need for growth and are not selective. 

This media can be classified on the fundamentals of:

• Composition
• Consistency
• Purpose

Classification on the Basis of Consistency

• Solid Medium - This medium has a physical architecture and allows bacteria to develop in a useful manner. The solid medium encompasses agar at a concentration level of 1.5 - 2.0 per cent or other. An example of a solid medium is a colony, and it is understood as a  perceptible mass of microorganisms emerging from a single mother cell. 

• Semisolid Medium - This type of medium encompasses agar at a concentration level of 0.5 per cent or less. Semisolid medium is soft is beneficial in demonstrating bacterial motility. 

• Broth (Liquid) Medium - This is a liquid medium that doesn't contain agar, but contains yeast powder, trypton, and other ingredients.  

Classification on the Basis of Composition

• Basal media -   This type of media is commonly used for the development of bacteria that do not require enrichment of the media. Nutrient broth, nutrient agar, and peptone water are good examples of basal media.

• Enriched media - The enriched media gets enriched usually by adding blood, serum, or egg. Good examples of enriched media include blood agar and Lowenstein-Jensen media. 

• Selective media - This type of media prevents the growth of unwanted bacteria and allowing the growth of wanted bacteria.  Experts recommend the addition of antibiotics added to a medium for prevention if deemed fit.

• Indicator Media  An indicator media is also known as differential media is commonly used to differentiate one microorganism variant from another. In this type of medium, an indicator is often added. 

Transport media - These media are used when specimens cannot be propagated in an artificial medium soon after collection. 

Storage Media - When the objective is to store bacteria for a long period of time, storage media is very beneficial.

Culture media is of pivotal importance for most microbiological tests done in a laboratory: to obtain veritable cultures, to develop and count microbial cells, and to cultivate and select microorganisms. 

This article elaborates on the top culture media brands you should have an idea of as a microbiologist, lab technician or enthusiast for the medical industry.