B.G. Sulpha HiVeg™ Agar (Brilliant Green Sulpha HiVeg™ Agar)

Principle And Interpretation

Brilliant Green Sulpha HiVeg Agar is prepared by replacing proteose peptone with HiVeg peptone No. 3 which makes the medium BSE/TSE risks free.

Salmonella species are ubiquitous in the environment. They enter the gastrointestinal tract of animals due to the consumption of contaminated feed. Meat and meat products, eggshell and its contents from these infected animals stands to be the major cause of salmonella pathogenesis (1-5).

Salmonella species are usually the causative agents of a self-limiting gastroenteritis. In some cases they may also cause typhoid fever. Contamination with Salmonella is most frequently encountered in the poultry industry.

Brilliant Green Sulpha Agar is used for the selective isolation and detection of Salmonella species in foods especially from eggs and egg products. It was first formulated by Kristensen, Lester and Jargens (6). This was further modified by Osborne and Stokes (7) by the addition of 0.1% sodium sulphapyridine. Addition of this helped to increase the selectivity of the medium. B. G. Sulpha HiVeg Agar is the modification of B. G. Sulpha Agar recommended for same purpose. Colonies of Salmonella may sometimes vary from red to pink to white depending upon the strain and time of incubation. Do not autoclave the medium for more than 15 minutes as it decreases the selectivity of the medium (8).

Yeast extract and HiVeg peptone No. 3 provides essential growth nutrients, amino acids and vitamins. Brilliant green used in the medium is inhibitory to gram-positive and most gram-negative lactose/sucrose fermenting bacilli. Sulphapyridine enhances the selectivity of the medium. The medium does not support the growth of Salmonella Typhi as well as Shigella. Since Brilliant Green Sulpha HiVeg Agar is highly selective, a less inhibitory medium should be simultaneously used to recover organisms from the pre-enriched culture (Selenite Cystine HiVeg Medium).