ABSTRACT
Microbiologists working today have considerable choice in the range and type of culture media available to them. This has largely arisen from the expansion of microbiology from medicine in its early days to agriculture, food manufacturing, water production and pharmaceutical applications, with each discipline having its particular and individual requirements for culture media. The design and subsequent development of culture media have largely reflected these requirements, but have also been influenced by the introduction of selective and differential indicator media, containing an array of inhibitory substances in various quantities and combinations. In addition, culture media, initially developed for a particular requirement, have sometimes later been successfully adopted for use in other disciplines of microbiology. In the case of pharmaceutical microbiology, however, a rather more conservative approach has been taken over the introduction of new media; the range of media used has remained largely consistent over the years, undoubtedly reflecting in part pharmacopoeial recommendations.
