Gari agar as culture media for mycological studies

Abstract

Gari agar was prepared by weighing 28 g of Gari, 14 g of agar powder and 8 g of Hibiscus rabdariffa powder to 1 L of sterile water. A conventional media, Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) was prepared as control according to manufacturer's procedure. Aliquot of appropriate dilutions of 1 g of agricultural soil was inoculated onto SDA and Gari agar by pour plate technique and spread plate technique. After 2 days and 4 days of inoculation, the growth of moulds was examined. Fungal colonies on Gari agar were very healthy and compared favourably with fungal growth on Sabouraud dextrose agar which is a conventional medium. Gari agar produced healthy moulds as determined by diameter of growth. Furthermore, conventional media (SDA) supported the growth of bacteria while Gari agar inhibited the growth of bacteria and promoted that of fungi. Cassava can be successfully grown in poor soils with low labour requirement, low capital and ease of cultivation. Gari extract agar can now be used successfully for quantitative count of moulds. The result of this study will go a long way in solving the problem of high cost of conventional media used as culture media for mycological studies.

Groundnut Shell Infusion Agar as a Culture Medium for Moulds

“…In this study, pH value of 4.4 was obtained for GSA as shown on Table 8. Groundnut shell infusion agar mixed with gari produced healthy moulds probably because of additional nutrients from the gari, and it also aided in making the pH of the medium acidic, since it has a pH that lies within 3.5-4.2 and it supports the growth of fungi but inhibits the growth of bacteria which concurs with the pH value (3.9) obtained in this study [11]. Table 8 shows the pH of GSA and GSA enriched with Gari used for the study.…”

“…The growth of moulds was impressive on PDA, although this medium was found to support the growth of bacteria when no antibiotic was added. According to [11], proximate analysis of gari showed 1% crude protein, 2% fats, 1% ash, 3% fibre, 12% moisture content and 81% carbohydrate while that of groundnut shells according to [16] showed 4.43% crude protein, 0.50% lipids, 2.50% ash, 59.0% fibre, 8.0% moisture content and 25.57% carbohydrate. This revealed that GSA is nutritious and has all it takes to support the growth of fungi.…”

“…Previous studies have shown the feasibility of using agricultural products such as gari as culture medium for moulds [11]. The present study is to investigate the growth characteristics of moulds on groundnut shell infusion agar, which might serve as an inexpensive but also effective alternative culture medium in comparison to potato dextrose agar.…”

Gari agar as culture media for mycological studies

“…The growths of these organisms were impressive (Figures 1 and 2). Quantitative counts on Gari extract agar showed discrete colonies as is the case with conventional media such as Sabouraud dextrose agar (Okorondu et al, 2011). The cultural and morphological details of fungal growth on Gari agar were greatly enhanced.…”

“…Gari in its native processed form using hot water (Eba) cannot be used in quantitative counts requiring a high degree of numerical accuracy (Sokari et al, 1996). Gari extract agar is now used successfully in quantitative count with numerical accuracy as well as for mycological studies (Okorondu et al, 2011).…”