Preliminary Evaluation of a Laboratory-Prepared Voges-Proskauer Medium

Abstract

The performance of a Voges-Proskauer (VP) medium prepared from basic chemical reagents in the laboratory was compared with that of a commercial VP medium, obtained from Oxoid (Basingstoke, UK), using 64 coded laboratory cultures. The sensitivity of the laboratory-prepared VP medium was 100% and the specify was 96%. The percentage accuracy of the laboratory medium was 98.4% and colour development on which the result of the VP reaction depends was more intense in the laboratory-prepared medium than in the Oxoid medium. This blind study indicates that reasonable accuracy can be achieved when VP reaction is determined using a medium prepared in the laboratory with basic chemical reagents. It is suggested that the laboratory prepared medium can conveniently replace the commercial VP medium in the determination of VP reaction in laboratories with limited resources.

Key words: Voges-Proskauer medium, evaluation, cost, Enterobacteriaceae

Journal of Medical Laboratory Sciences Vol.12(1) 2003: 15-24