Use of Tomato Juice Supplemented With Glucose as a Medium for Growing Fungi

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of using tomato juice as an alternative medium for growing fungi was tested. Four isolates; Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp. and Candida sp. were inoculated on Tomato Juice Agar (TJA), Tomato Juice Agar supplemented with 1g of glucose (TJA+1g Glc), Tomato Juice Agar supplemented with 2g of glucose (TJA + 2g Glc) and Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) as control medium. The diameters of the fungal colonies were measured at 24 hours intervals for four days. The fungal growths on the test media were compared with those on PDA. The results for Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp. and Asprgillus sp. were significantly higher (P < 0.05) on TJA than PDA. This study shows that tomato juice agar (TJA) is suitable for the growth of all the tested fungi and can be used as an alternative medium for growing fungi.