Ready-to-use Chocolate Agar Plates are a nonselective growth medium that contains essential nutrients for the isolation and growth of fastidious microorganisms, such as the respiratory bacteria Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis.
3.6% GC agar base contains casein and meat peptones, which supply nitrogen-containing nutrients. It also has phosphate buffer to regulate the pH and corn starch to protect from potentially toxic fatty acids from the agar.
1.0% IsoVitalex® Enrichment provides V factor (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD) that Haemophilus spp. require for growth. It also contains other nutrients that enhance Neisseria spp. growth.
1.0% Hemoglobin provides X factor (hemin) that the fastidious respiratory bacterium Haemophilus influenzae requires for growth.
Typically, 100 mm round plates are for growth/selection, 150 mm round plates for screening, and rectangular plates can be used with automated systems.
(IsoVitalex is a registered trademark of BD Corp.)