Ingredients : gms/lit.
Peptone 20.00
Lactose 10.00
Bile Salts 5.00
Sodium Chloride 5.00
Neutral red 0.075
Final pH (at 25°C) : 7.4+ 0.2
Directions :
Suspend 40.07 grams in 1000 ml distilled water. Heat if necessary, to dissolve the medium completely. Distribute into tubes with inverted Durhams tubes. Sterilize by autoclaving at 15 lbs pressure (121°C) for 15 minutes. Cool the tubes before inoculation.
Principle:
Peptone provides necessary nitrogen source. Lactose serves as the fermentable carbohydrate source. Sodium chloride maintains the osmotic balance of the cells. The selective action of these media is attributed to the presence of bile salts, which are inhibitory to most species of gram-positive bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria usually grow well on these media and are differentiated by their ability to ferment lactose. The colour change of the medium shown by lactose-fermenters is due to production of acid from lactose and a subsequent colour change of the indicator dye when the pH of the media falls below 6.8. The medium turns pink in case of lactose fermenters and yellow in case of non-lactose-fermenters, due to neutral red. MacConkey Broth , which contains neutral red as an indicator is considered as a standard medium for the primary isolation as well as presumptive identification of coliform-aerogenes group of organisms in food and water.