R-2A AGAR PLATE

R-2A Agar Plate is formulated for the recovery and enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria in treated potable water and other low-nutrient water systems. It allows growth of slow-growing, stressed or injured microorganisms that would otherwise be undetected after water treatment processes, instead of conventional high-nutrient media. It is the preferred medium for heterotrophic plate count (HPC) testing using pour plate, spread plate or membrane filtration techniques as recommended by APHA.
The strength of this medium lies in the nutrient-poor content and the longer incubation time, which both allow environmental bacteria to recover and grow up to visible colonies. Casein acid hydrolysate, proteose peptone, and yeast extract act as a source of balanced nutrition while dextrose acts as a source of energy. Soluble starch neutralizes toxic metabolic products of metabolism and sodium pyruvate promotes recovery of injured cells. Magnesium sulphate is a source of important minerals and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate helps to maintain a stable pH during incubation. R-2A Agar is commonly applied in the monitoring of potable water quality, water treatment plants, bottled water analysis, pool water inspection, and environmental microbiology laboratories for detection of stressed heterotrophic bacteria.

Low-nutrient medium for accurate heterotrophic plate counts of treated potable water and recovery of stressed waterborne bacteria.