Evaluation of nutritive capacities of 10 broth media.

Ten broth media were evaluated for their ability to support the growth of low inocula of selected fastidious aerobic, microaerophilic, and anaerobic bacteria. Thioglycolate medium USP (Oxoid, Basingstoke, England), cooked meat broth (Oxoid), and fastidious anaerobe broth (Quelab Laboratories Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada) were best able to support the growth of the greatest variety of organisms at the lowest inoculum tested (10(1) CFU). In most cases, incubation of these broths resulted in visible turbidity within 3 days. These three broth media were found to be equally suitable for use as an enrichment broth in the clinical laboratory.