High grade Deoxycholate Agar is supplied by Micromaster. It is available in the form of a light yellow to pink homogenous free flowing powder which has a pH in the range of 7.1 to 7.5. Once opened, it should be properly stored, after tightly capping the bottle. Due to the hygroscopic nature of the product, there could be chances of lump formation which can be avoided by proper storage. Store in dry ventilated area protected from extremes of temperature and sources of ignition.

Quantity provided: 500 g/pack

Deoxycholate Agar is used as a differential medium for the direct count of coliforms in dairy products and for the isolation of enteric pathogens like Salmonella and Shigella from rectal swabs, faeces and other pathological specimens. The selectivity of medium permits the use of fairly heavy inoculum without danger of overgrowth of the Shigella and Salmonella by other micro-flora. Peptone provides carbon, nitrogen, long chain amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Coliform bacteria and gram-positive bacteria are inhibited or greatly suppressed due to sodium deoxycholate and sodium citrate. Sodium chloride maintains the osmotic balance of the medium while dipotassium phosphate buffers the medium. Lactose helps in differentiating enteric bacilli as lactose fermenters produce red colonies while lactose non-fermenters produce colourless colonies. The degradation of lactose causes acidification of the medium surrounding the relevant colonies and the pH indicator neutral red changes its colour to red. These colonies usually are also surrounded by a turbid zone of precipitated deoxycholic acid due to acidification of the medium. Citrate and iron (Fe) combination has a strong hydrolyzing effect on agar when the medium is heated, producing a soft and unelastic agar. If autoclaved the agar becomes soft and almost impossible to streak.