A useful table of different agars and their components 

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Agar  What is in it: components and fundamental principles  When is it used  
General  ● Standard culture medium​ for growing a wide variety of  Growth of non-fastidious bacteria; 
purpose, e.g.,  microorganisms used in water, wastewater, food, and dairy  for lab analysis e.g., CFU 
Nutrient agar  testing.  
determination, etc. 
● Cultivation and maintenance of ​nonfastidious microorganisms 
● Composed of pancreatic digest of gelatin and beef extract, 
which provide organic nitrogen compounds, long-chained fatty 
acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and essential amino acids 
necessary for cell growth 
Mueller-Hinton  ● Contains beef infusion, casamino acids, and starch.   Kirby-Bauer Assay for determining 
Agar  ● Starch acts as a colloid that protects against toxic material in  antibiotic susceptibility profiles​.   
the medium.  
● Beef infusion and casamino acids provide energy and nutrients.  
● The levels of tetracycline and sulfonamide inhibitors, 
thymidine, thymine, magnesium, and calcium ions, are 
controlled so as not to interfere with susceptibility testing and 
to yield good growth 

MacConkey’s  ● One of the earliest culture media for ​the cultivation and  Selective and differential​; bile salts 
agar  identification of enteric organisms​.   inhibit Gram positive; lactose 
● Also used in the isolation of pathogens from foods and  fermentation with or without acid 
coliforms in water samples.   production enables differentiation. 
● Lactose-fermenting organisms →pink colonies surrounded by  Usually for ​selection and 
a zone of bile salt precipitation.​ ​Non-lactose-fermenters  differentiation of key enteric 
(​Salmonella ​spp. and ​Shigella s​ pp.) → transparent, colorless  pathogens such as E. coli.  
colonies with no precipitated zone​. Color change is due to the 
production of acid which changes the neutral red pH indicator 
from colorless to red. Acid production is also responsible for 
the formation of bile salt precipitation. 
● Peptones are incorporated to provide amino acids and 
nitrogenous compounds. Sodium chloride is present to 

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This is the most relevant aspect for the purposes of this course (the When is easier to remember with an understanding of the What)
 maintain osmotic equilibrium. Lactose is added as a possible 
carbon source for energy, and the acids produced from this 
activity precipitate out the bile salts. Bile salts and crystal violet 
are added to inhibit the growth of most gram-positive 
organisms.  
Bordet​-Gengou  ● An enriched casein peptone medium with potato infusion and  Culture of ​Bordet​ella spp. (mainly B. 
agar  glycerol to supply nutrients which support the growth of  pertussis)​ from clinical specimens 
Bordetella spp.   
● Blood is added to provide additional nutrients and to enable 
the detection of hemolytic reactions. Sodium chloride 
maintains osmotic equilibrium. 

Buffered  ● Employs the use of ​L-Cysteine​, soluble ferric pyrophosphate,  Legionella s​ pp. 
Charcoal Yeast  and alpha-ketoglutarate to enhance the growth of ​Legionella 
Extract  species​.  
● Activated charcoal removes toxic metabolic products.  
● Yeast extract provides protein and other nutrients. 

Modified  ● Base for culture of ​Neisseria​ with inclusion of antibiotics  Neisseria gonorrhoeae​; standard, 
Thayer-martin  [​selective​ and block growth of members of normal flora]  non-modified TM can be used for 
Neisseria meningitidis​ (sterile site, 
i.e., CSF). 
XLD  ● Selective agent in XLD Agar ​is sodium ​D​eoxycholate​, which  Selective and differential​ for 
inhibits the growth of gram-positive organisms. The  Salmonella and Shigella along with 
carbohydrate source is ​X​ylose​ which is fermented by most  other Enterobacteriacaea. 
enterics except for ​Shigella s​ pecies, and these ​colonies appear   
red on this medium​ as a result.   Shigella – Red colonies 
● A second differential mechanism for ​Salmonella​ i​ s employed by 
 
Salmonella – Red colonies with 
the addition of ​L​ysine​. Lysine decarboxylation reverts the pH of 
black center 
the medium to an alkaline condition. To avoid this reversal to a 
 
Shigella r​ eaction, lactose and sucrose are added in excess.  Enteric coliforms - Yellow 
Sodium thiosulfate and ferric ammonium citrate are added as a   
sulfur source and indicator, respectively, allows hydrogen   
 sulfide forming organisms to ​produce colonies with black   
centers​, under alkaline conditions.  
● Organisms which ferment xylose, are lysine 
decarboxylase-negative, and do not ferment lactose or sucrose 
cause an acid pH in the medium, and form yellow colonies. 
Examples of such organisms are ​Citrobacter ​spp., ​Proteus s​ pp., 
and ​Escherichia coli.  

Chocolate agar  Enriched​ media; contains ​heat-lysed blood​; releases key nutrients  For culture of certain fastidious 
such ​as X and V factor  pathogens such as ​Haemophilus 
influenzae.​   
Blood agar  Enriched​ media; contains ​unlysed blood​ that provides necessary  For culture of certain fastidious 
nutrients for certain pathogens.  pathogens. Can also be used to 
differentiate based on e.g., 
hemolysis patterns​ (α- hemolytic; 
β-hemolytic: e.g., for certain 
Streptococci​) 
Sabouraud’s  ● General purpose medium originally devised for the cultivation  Fungi  
agar  of dermatophytes. ​Used for the isolation and cultivation of all 
fungi​.  
● The peptones are sources of nitrogenous growth factors.  
● The high glucose concentration and low pH provide an 
advantage for the growth of the (osmotically stable) fungi 
while most bacteria do not tolerate the high sugar 
concentration or low pH. 
● Only slightly selective against bacteria​.  

 
Lowenstein-Je ● Initially utilized congo red and malachite green to inhibit  Mycobacteria 
nsen agar  unwanted bacteria. The present formulation, a glycerated 
egg-based medium which eliminates Congo Red​, is based upon 
Jensen's modification.  
● This prevents growth of the majority of contaminants surviving 
 decontamination of the specimen.  
● This formulation also ​encourages the earliest possible growth 
of mycobacteria​.  
● Coagulated egg albumin provides a solid surface for 
inoculation. Egg and asparagine supplies nitrogen, fatty acids, 
and proteins. Glycerol serves as a carbon source and is 
favorable to the growth of the human type tubercle bacillus 
while being unfavorable to the bovine type.  
Triple Sugar  ● Contains three sugars (dextrose, lactose and sucrose)   Used for the determination of 
Iron (TSI) agar  ● Phenol red for detecting carbohydrate fermentation -  carbohydrate fermentation and 
indicated by the production of gas and a change in the color of  hydrogen sulfide production in the 
the pH indicator from red to yellow.  identification of gram-negative 
● Ferrous ammonium sulfate for detection of hydrogen sulfide  bacilli 
production (indicated by blackening in the butt of the tube).    
● To facilitate the detection of ​organisms that only ferment 
dextrose​, the dextrose concentration is one-tenth the 
concentration of lactose or sucrose. The small amount of acid 
produced in the slant of the tube during dextrose fermentation 
oxidizes rapidly, ​causing the medium to remain red or revert 
to an alkaline pH​.  
● In contrast, the ​acid reaction (yellow)​ is maintained in the butt 
of the tube because it is under lower oxygen tension. After 
depletion of the limited dextrose, ​organisms able to do so will 
begin to utilize the lactose or sucrose