ROSE BENGAL AGAR BASE

Rose Bengal Agar is a selective medium to detect and enumerate yeasts and moulds in food samples. The use of media with an acidic pH that selectively inhibits the growth of bacteria and thereby promotes the growth of fungi has been widely employed. Neutral pH media with antibiotics is advantageous for fungal growth compared to acidified media as the later may inhibit fungal growth or fail to inhibit bacterial growth and may restrict the size of mould colonies.
Smith and Dawson used rose bengal in a neutral pH medium for the selective isolation of fungi from soil samples. Chloramphenicol, streptomycin, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline have been used for the improved, selective isolation and enumeration of yeasts and moulds from soil, sewage and foodstuffs. Rose Bengal Agar is recommended in standard methods for the enumeration of yeasts and moulds from foodstuffs and water.

for selective isolation and enumeration of yeasts and molds from environmental materials and foods