The following
steps were taken in preparation of the media as outlined by Okereke and Kanu
(2004).
1.
I weighed and dissolved the
nutrient agar base according to the manufacturer’s instruction.
2.
I dispensed the media in 14ml
in bijou bottles and sterilized in an autoclave at 121oC for 15
minutes.
3.
I also autoclaved the Petri
dishes at the above temperature and pressure for 15 minutes.
4.
I allowed the media to cool to
about 50oC and using a sterile syringe I dispensed 1ml of
sterile
blood into the sterile plates.
5.
I aseptically unscrewed the cap
of the bottle flames the mouth of the bottle for few seconds and poured into
the Petri dishes
6.
I them mixed properly and
allowed to gel.
INOCULATION
AND INCUBATION
Before inoculation of the media, I
made sure that the surface of the media was dry. Then I inoculated using the
steps listed by Cheesbrough (2006).
1.
Using a swab of the specimen I
applied the inoculums to a small area of the plate and then spread to other
parts of the media by a zigzag streaking method.
2.
After this, I inverted the
plates and labelled, then I incubated at 37oC for 18hrs.
The plates were
inverted so as to prevent any condensation from falling onto the cultures.