Improved Selective Medium for Isolation and Enumeration of Bifidobacterium sp.

In order to develop a new improved selective medium for the Bifidobacterium sp. from the human fecal samples, one hundred eight Bifidobacterium strains were isolated and identified. Sensitivity test for the antibiotics and antimetabolites and test for the specific substrate were performed to obtain basic data for the development of the Bifidobacterium selective medium. TOS(transgalactosylated oligosaccharide) was shown to be preferentially used by Bifidobacterium sp.. Sodium propionate promoted the growth of Bifidobacterium while inhibiting other intestinal bacteria. Upon these results, TP medium was designed and shown to be very effective for the selection of Bifidobacterium and better than Mitsuoka BS medium.