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What is the Enriched Media and Enrichment Media

What is the difference between enriched media and enrichment media?- Find the answer to this question and access a vast question bank that is customised for students.

What is the difference between enriched media and enrichment media?

Definition: Enriched Media are the media which is used in order to grow the microorganisms containing nutrients like serum, blood and many more with basal media. Therefore, these media help in providing nutrients to the organisms. The examples of enriched media includes; Loeffler’s agar, blood agar, chocolate agar etc.

Enrichment Media are the media which permits the growth of selective microorganisms i.e. it prevents the contaminating or unwanted or commensal microorganisms growth. It is the medium of liquid consistency which mainly nourishes the gram negative as well as gram positive bacteria’s growth. The examples of enrichment media includes: APW (Alkaline Peptone Water), tetrathionate broth, Selenite F broth etc.

Difference:

S.No.

Enriched Media

Enrichment Media

1.

It is the media which consists of nutrition in order to help the growth of microorganisms, involving some nutrition-exacting organisms.

It is the liquid media which prevents the growth of contaminating or unwanted bacteria.

2.

The medium of enriched media is solid.

The media of enrichment media is liquid.

3.

It consists of nutrients (extra) like serum, blood etc. with the basal media.

It consists of dyes, altered pH, chemicals, antibiotics etc.

4.

It permits growth of a large variety of small organisms.

It permits the growth of selective organisms.

5.

It helps in facilitating the microorganism’s growth.

It helps in inhibiting the contaminated microorganism’s growth.

6.

They do not have any type of inhibitors for inhibiting the microorganism’s growth.

They have inhibitors in order to prevent the growth of unwanted or contaminated microorganisms.

7.

Examples: Mannitol salt agar, blood agar etc.

Examples: Pseudosel agar, Lowenstein Jensen medium etc.

8.

These are the agar-based type media which by using nutrients permits fastidious microorganism’s growth and increases the number of large variety of microorganisms.

These are the liquid media which by using inhibitors like alkaline peptone water etc. inhibits microorganism’s growth and increases the number of particular bacteria.