Description

• Intended use
• Recommended as a general culture medium for cultivation of less fastidious microorganisms from clinical and non-clinical
• samples. It can be enriched with blood or other biological fluids.
• Composition**
• Ingredients Gms / Litre
• Peptone 5.000
• Sodium chloride 5.000
• HM peptone B# 1.000
• Yeast extract 2.000
• Agar 15.000
• Final pH ( at 25°C) 7.4±0.2
• **Formula adjusted, standardized to suit performance parameters
• # – Equivalent to Beef extract
• Directions
• Suspend 28.0 grams in 1000 ml purified/distilled water. Heat to boiling to dissolve the medium completely. Sterilize by
• autoclaving at 15 lbs pressure (121°C) for 15 minutes. Cool to 45-50°C. Mix well and pour into sterile Petri plates.
• Principle And Interpretation
• Nutrient media are basic culture media used for maintaining microorganisms, cultivating fastidious organisms by enriching
• with serum or blood and are also used for purity checking prior to biochemical or serological testing (1,2). Nutrient Agar is
• ideal for demonstration and teaching purposes where a more prolonged survival of cultures at ambient temperature is often
• required without risk of overgrowth that can occur with more nutritious substrate. This relatively simple formula has been
• retained and is still widely used in the microbiological examination of variety of materials and is also recommended by
• standard methods. It is one of the several non-selective media useful in routine cultivation of microorganisms (3,4). It can be
• used for the cultivation and enumeration of bacteria which are not particularly fastidious. Addition of different biological
• fluids such as horse or sheep blood, serum, egg yolk etc. makes it suitable for the cultivation of related fastidious organisms.
• Peptone, HM peptone B and yeast extract provide the necessary nitrogen compounds, carbon, vitamins and also some trace
• ingredients necessary for the growth of bacteria. Sodium chloride maintains the osmotic equilibrium of the medium.
• Type of specimen
• Clinical samples – pathological material, Food and dairy samples; Water samples
• Specimen Collection and Handling:
• For clinical samples follow appropriate techniques for handling specimens as per established guidelines (5,6).
• For food and dairy samples, follow appropriate techniques for sample collection and processing as per guidelines (3,4,7).
• For water samples, follow appropriate techniques for sample collection, processing as per guidelines and local standards.(8)
• After use, contaminated materials must be sterilized by autoclaving before discarding.
• Warning and Precautions :
• In Vitro diagnostic use. For professional use only. Read the label before opening the container. Wear
• protective gloves/protective clothing/eye protection/ face protection. Follow good microbiological lab practices
• while handling specimens and culture. Standard precautions as per established guidelines should be followed
• while handling clinical specimens. Safety guideline