MALT-YEAST EXTRACT-SUCROSE AGAR, A SUITABLE MEDIUM FOR ENUMERATION AND ISOLATION OF FUNGI FROM SILAGE

A general medium named malt-yeast extract-sucrose agar (MYSA) containi ng oxgall was designed, The medium was intended for the enumeration an d isolation of molds and yeasts in routine examinations of animal feed stuffs, In this study MYSA was tested as a general medium for mycolog ical examination of silage. The medium was compared with dichloran-ros e bengal medium (DRBC) in an examination of more than 500 specimens of big bale grass silage, Selected characteristics of known fungal speci es commonly isolated from feeds were examined after growth on MYSA and DRBC and on malt extract agar, used as a noninhibitory control medium , MYSA suppressed bacterial growth, without affecting the growth of fu ngi common in feeds, The fungi growing on MYSA were easily recognized, and the medium seemed to slow radial growth of fungal colonies, which permitted easy counting, The number of species found was higher on MY SA than on DRBC. When we compared MYSA with DRBC for mycological exami nation of grass silage samples, MYSA was found to be the medium of cho ice.