CETRIMIDE AGAR PLATE (y- irradiated) (Triple Pack)

Cetrimide Agar Plate is a selective medium for isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from clinical and non-clinical samples. The medium exploits the inherent resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to cetrimide, to permit its growth while suppressing many other bacteria.
Cetrimide is a quaternary ammonium compound and cationic detergent that contributes to the medium’s selective property. Pancreatic digestion of gelatin provides the carbon and nitrogen and other elements required by microbes for growth. Magnesium chloride and potassium sulphate stimulate production of pigment by P. aeruginosa, which is used in its presumptive identification by its distinctive colony characters. Pyocyanin may impart pale green colour and aminoacetophenone was associated with characteristic grape-like odour.
The medium is subjected to gamma irradiation in its packaging to contribute to the reduction of the microbial burden that may be present on the medium, dishes and packaging. Plates may be incubated at 35 ± 2°C for 18–48 hours to allow P. aeruginosa to recover. Direct plating on the medium may be appropriate when high numbers of microbes are present in the samples. Agar provides the solidifying matrix required for colony development and observation.

Selective conditions favour the recovery of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from pharmaceutical and clinical samples, while pigment production provides useful presumptive characteristics for identification.