Coco Agar as a Selective Medium for Escherichia Coli / Joyce Anne Billedo ; Mikka Gabia ; Mary Ann Isuga ; Aldin Legaspi ; Sena Na ; Marvie Payot ; Sayed mohammad hossein Taghavi ; Vida Taghavi and Michelle Verdillo.

Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract: The coconut fruit is well recognized as nutrition and rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Its' extracted oil that is greatly used in Asian traditional medicine, has healing properties far beyond of any other dietary oil. With this, the preparation of Cocoagar poses cheaper costs than preparation of McConkey agar, which is a chemically synthetic product. Thus, an experimental study of cocoagar is conducted in determining the growth of Escherichia coli. The usage of virgin coconut oil in the experimental study showed a very significant effect in inhibiting the growth of gram-positive bacteria in Cocoagar. Based on this study, which was conducted at the microbiology laboratory of Far Eastern University- Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, there is no growth of gram-positive bacteria in Cocoagar (which was also expected in the case of McConkey). Furthermore, 17 out of 20 showed positive result of growth of Escherichia coli (gram-negative bacteria) in Cocoagar. The study also shows that the microscopic characteristics of Escherichia coli on Cocoagar and McConkey agar are the same: rod shape bacilli, pink to red in color and singly in arrangement. Therefore, Cocoagar, just like McConkey, can also be used as selective medium for the growth of Escherichia coli.

Thesis - School of Medical Technology