POTATO DEXTROSE W / 2% AGAR

A large group of fungi found in the nature can spoil the foods and at times turns to be pathogenic to humans. This can also lead to economic losses at producer and consumer levels, apart from its toxic effects. Dilution plating and direct plating are the most common methods used in the isolation and enumeration of fungi. The direct plating is more efficient than the dilution plating method for detecting individual mold species including most of the toxin producers, but it is less effective in detecting yeasts. Potato Dextrose agar w/2% agar is recommended by FDA BAM for plate counts of yeasts and moulds in the examination of foods and dairy products. The media has also been used for stimulating sporulation, for maintaining stock cultures and for differentiation of typical varieties of dermatophytes on the basis of pigment production.

for isolation and enumeration of yeasts and moulds from dairy and other food products in accordance with FDA BAM, 1998