Table 2.
A summary of commonly used culture media for various types of organisms.
| Culture Media | Main Ingredients | B | F | A | N | MB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood agar | Peptone, tryptose, 5% sheep blood | Y | Y | – | Y | – |
| Chocolate agar | Similar to blood agar, but with lysed blood | Ya | Y | – | Y | – |
| Sabouraud agar | Dextrose, peptone | – | Y | – | Y | – |
| Potato dextrose agar (PDA) | Potato infusion, dextrose | – | Y | – | – | – |
| Non-nutrient agar with E. coli overlay | Peptone, yeast extract, beef extract, E. coli | – | – | Y | – | – |
| Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium | Potato flour, asparagine, malachite green, glycerol, potassium, magnesium | – | – | – | – | Y |
| Thioglycolate broth | Sodium thioglycolate, l-cystine, glucose, yeast extract, casein | Yb | – | – | – | – |
B = Bacteria; F = Fungi; A = Acanthamoeba; N = Nocardia; MB = Mycobacteria.
a
Neisseria and Hemophilus species.
b
Differentiates obligate aerobes, obligate anaerobes and facultative anaerobes.