Adams Wednesday

Adams Medium: history and application

Adams medium is a medium for cultivating bacteria developed by American bacteriologist Walter H. Adams in 1917. This medium consists of peptone (protein hydrolysate), lactose, dried bile bile, crystal violet and agar. Adams Medium was developed for the isolation and differentiation of coli-causing bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella.

For many years, Adams Medium remained one of the most common media for culturing bacteria, and its use is widespread throughout the world. This medium is used to identify and isolate bacteria from blood, urine, feces and other body fluids.

One of the benefits of Adams' Media is that it contains dried bile, which inhibits the growth of many gram-positive bacteria but allows gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella to grow. This makes Adams' Medium especially useful for studying these bacteria.

Additionally, Adams' Medium can be used to differentiate between different strains of bacteria, as some strains can use lactose while others cannot. If bacteria can use lactose, they produce acid, causing the media to change color. This allows different strains of bacteria to be identified.

Even though Adams' Medium was developed over a hundred years ago, it is still one of the most popular media for culturing bacteria. Its widespread use and significant contributions to the study of microbiology make it an important tool for scientific work and medical practice.