Effectiveness of Lyophilized Coconut Milk Based Agar as Fungal Base Medium /
Mariane Colisao ; Eunice Gem Dela Cruz ; Arlene Mae Dumallay ; Neil Gabriel Encina ; Lourdes Gayle Gamilde ; Marnelli Mari Manuel ; Beata May Olaivar ; Ma. Lorraine Olivas ; Natasha Elaine Pecache and May-Ann Tapiador.
- Fairview, Quezon City School of Medical Technology, FEU-NRMF June 2017
- 51 pages: illustrations, tables, photos; 28 cm.
Includes appendices and bibliographical references.
Abstract: The gold standard for diagnosing an infection is culture and sensitivity. The general culture medium for fungi is Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar. Sabouraud's dextrose agar has an acidic pH which is conducive for the growth of fungi. The preparation and cost of Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar is both tedious and expensive. The researchers made use of commercially available lyophilized coconut milk because it contains certain amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids which can be a growth factor when it is used as an ingredient for fungal culture medium. It also has an acidic pH which can act as natural antibacterial component. On the other hand, coconut milk is readily available in the market making it a feasible, practical and cost effective alternative for SDA. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of lyophilized coconut milk based agar as a fungal base medium compared to Sabouraud's Dextrose agar (SDA) which is the general fungal media with the following criteria: Growth, Time of growth, Microscopic Morphological Features, Microscopic Morphological Features, and Cost Analysis. The experimental study design was used to evaluate coconut milk-based agar in culture media preparation and diagnosis of pathologically important fungi, together with Sadbouraud Dextrose Agar as the control for experimentation. The Two (2) media were subjected to different trials for comparison. For the preparation of coconut milk based agar the researchers used coconut milk powder (commercial sources)as a nutrient source in making the agar media, yeast was also added which acted as an additive source of carbohydrates and preservative agent and commercially prepared agar was used as a solidifying agent. The prepared lyophilized coconut milk based (LCMB) agar undergone pre heating autoclaving and dispensing onto the petri dish.