Evaluation of CHROMagar Candida for presumptive identification of clinically important Candida species.

CHROMagar Candida is a recently described and differential medium for the isolation and the presumptive identification of clinically important yeasts. We evaluated it with 262 yeast strains from clinical specimens, including 173 Candida albicans, 21 Candida tropicalis, 8 Candida krusei, 49 Candida glabrata, and 12 strains of other yeast species. Strains were presumptively identified on the basis of colony color and texture. These observations were compared with conventional identification results. Candida albicans was identified correctly in 170 (98%) of the 173 strains. A total of 46 of the 205 specimens that were plated on CHROMagar contained mixed cultures of yeast. Thirty-seven (80%) of these mixed cultures were not detected in the original specimens. CHROMagar Candida was useful for the rapid presumptive identification of Candida albicans and facilitated the recognition of mixed cultures. For other yeast species, it may provide additional information to laboratories that do not regularly perform identifications beyond the germ tube test.