Chrome agar Candida for species level identification of isolates of Candida sp. from oral cavity

Recently, Candida has become an important nosocomial pathogen. They are normal flora of skin, mouth, gut and vagina of healthy humans. They become opportunistic with immunocompromised and immunosuppresed individual. Since it is not possible to identify the species directly on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar (SDA), CHROM agar for candida is used for easy recognition of species by colour of the colonies. This study was conducted in 38 patients with symptoms of oral candidiasis aged 25 to 75 years. Oral swabs were taken from oral cavity and were cultured on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar and CHROM agar for candida. Gram staining and germ tube test were done with the samples. Four different species of Candida were isolated from the samples using CHROM agar, that is, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata and Candida krusei. It was observed that, of the 38 isolates, C. albicans was obtained in higher rate (58%) followed by C. tropicalis (24%), C. krusei (16%) and C. glabrata (2%). C. albicans produced light green colonies, C. tropicalis produced dark blue with purple diffusion colonies, C. glabrata showed pink with a darker mauve center colonies, C. krusei produced pink with pale borders colonies. Thus, CHROM agar candida medium was found to be helpful in direct and easy identification of multiple yeast species simultaneously.