Sabouraud Dextrose Agar Eur. Pharma. 1024 Condalab

Sabouraud Dextrose Agar is used for cultivating yeasts, moulds (as cultivating pathogenic fungi, particularly those associated with skin infections) and aciduric microorganisms. This medium can be used for determining the microbial and fungal content of cosmetics and for the mycological evaluation of food.

The formula is based on the European Pharmacopoeia. Dextrose is the fermentable carbohydrate providing carbon and energy. Peptone mixture provides nitrogen, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids essential for growth. Bacteriological agar is the solidifying agent and the high dextrose concentration and acidic pH make this medium selective for fungi.

Georg et al. demonstrated that the basic agar fortified by three antibiotics considerably improves the isolation of pathogenic fungi from heavily contaminated sources. To prepare a selective culture medium aseptically add the following for every litre of the medium before use: 0,4 g Cycloheximide; 20 units Penicillin; 40 mg Streptomycin. One can obtain a very rich Sabouraud medium by dissolving the medium in one litre of Heart Infusion (Cat. 1714).

The European Pharmacopoeia recommends this medium in the paragraph 2.6.12: “Microbiological examination of non – sterile products: Microbial enumeration test” for the examination of TYMC in products. In the paragraph 2.6.13: "Microbiological examination of non-sterile products: Test for specified microorganisms" for the test of Candida albicans in products.