Tryptic Soy Agar (with Lecithin) - BioReagent

Cat. No.: T1528574

GRADE & PURITY BioReagent

Storage

Room temperature

Shipped In

Normal

Panoramica

For bacterial detection and total colony count determination.

Specifications

Specifiche e purezza

BioReagent

Condizioni di conservazione di stoccaggio

Room temperature

Spedito in

Normal

Grado

BioReagent

Product Line

biological_products

Application Protocols

Item-specific validated protocols are not provided. The following are general literature/practice workflows for TSA with lecithin:

• Surface sampling (contact plate or swab):
  1. If using plates, allow them to equilibrate to room temperature to prevent condensation.
  2. Sample the surface (contact imprint or swab and streak/spread). For swabs, express the swab into a small volume of diluent, then spread 0.1–1.0 mL on the plate.
  3. Incubate inverted plates per environmental monitoring program (commonly 30–35 °C for bacteria, time per SOP).
  4. Enumerate colonies (CFU) and record morphology; follow-up with identification as required.
• Membrane filtration:
  1. Filter a measured sample volume through a sterile membrane (0.45 μm typical for bacteria).
  2. Place membrane onto TSA+lecithin agar.
  3. Incubate as per method; count CFU.
• Growth promotion testing (GPT):
  • Inoculate low levels (≤100 CFU) of compendial strains; verify recovery and characteristic growth relative to control media.

Incubation temperatures/times, sample volumes, and acceptance criteria must follow your facility’s SOPs and regulatory guidance. Item-specific performance criteria are Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.

Biological Roles

This product itself does not have a biological role in vivo; it serves as an in vitro nutrient matrix to support growth of diverse microorganisms.

Component functions (literature/general):

• Pancreatic digest of casein and soybean: Provides peptides, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals that collectively satisfy the nutritional requirements of many nonfastidious bacteria.
• Sodium chloride: Maintains osmotic balance approximating physiological salinity, improving cell viability and colony morphology.
• Agar: Inert gelling agent that forms a porous, hydrated network allowing diffusion of nutrients and metabolic products while immobilizing colonies for enumeration and isolation.
• Lecithin (phosphatidylcholines): Amphipathic phospholipids that neutralize and sequester quaternary ammonium disinfectants, protecting recovering microbes from residual biocides during environmental monitoring.

Use context:

• Supports aerobic and facultative anaerobic organisms across many genera used in research and industrial QC. Does not confer selectivity or differential indicators; thus, it is best paired with confirmatory tests (biochemical, genetic, or selective media) for identification.

Note: No clinical/therapeutic implications are implied. The medium is solely for laboratory cultivation and enumeration of microorganisms as part of research and quality control workflows.

Buffer Applications

This product is not a defined buffering system. However, prepared TSA typically exhibits a near-neutral pH suitable for general bacterial cultivation.

• Typical prepared pH (literature): Approximately 7.3 ± 0.2 at 25 °C after autoclaving, due to the intrinsic buffering capacity of peptones and phospholipids.
• Practical guidance:
  • If a specific pH is required, adjust the medium with sterile acid/base before sterilization (accounting for pH drift upon heating) or aseptically after sterilization while at 45–50 °C.
  • Avoid strong external buffers at high concentrations; they can alter ionic strength/osmolarity and affect growth.
• Electrophoresis/cell culture: Not applicable; use dedicated buffer systems (e.g., Tris, PBS) for electrophoresis, and defined culture media for eukaryotic cell culture.

Item-specific buffer specifications: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.

Green Alternatives

Although a culture medium is not a chemical solvent or reagent in the classical sense, sustainability considerations still apply to TSA workflows.

Greener choices and trade-offs (literature/practice):

• Dehydrated medium vs. ready-to-use plates:
  • Dehydrated medium (this product) reduces shipping mass/volume and packaging waste; requires in-house sterilization energy and water for cleaning glassware.
  • Ready-to-use plates save autoclave energy and water but increase transport packaging and cold-chain (for some suppliers). Choose based on your facility’s infrastructure and waste profile.
• Energy use in sterilization:
  • Optimize autoclave loads and use validated liquid cycles to reduce energy per plate. Avoid over-sterilizing (excess time degrades nutrients and wastes power).
• Water and plastic reduction:
  • Consider reusable glass media bottles and stainless-steel dispensing manifolds. For plates, evaluate PET vs. PS footprint per your waste stream; explore take-back programs.
• Neutralizer choice:
  • Lecithin is a relatively benign phospholipid neutralizer for QACs. If broader neutralization is required, D/E media include multiple agents but introduce additional organics and surfactants; select the narrowest effective neutralizer spectrum to minimize chemical load.
• Waste management:
  • Implement on-site steam sterilization of spent plates and composting of agar where permitted; otherwise, ensure regulated medical waste processing. Avoid chemical disinfectants that add VOCs when thermal decontamination suffices.

Pharmaceutical Uses

No therapeutic or clinical use is claimed. In the context of pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing quality control (literature/compendial practice), TSA with lecithin is commonly used for:

• Environmental monitoring: Surface and air sampling in controlled environments (cleanrooms, ISO 5–8) where disinfectants—especially quaternary ammonium compounds—are routinely used. Lecithin aids in neutralizing residual QACs to improve microbial recovery.
• Bioburden and total aerobic counts: As a non-selective recovery medium for membranes, rinse solutions, and product-contact surfaces during in-process controls.
• Disinfectant neutralization validation: In carrier or surface tests to demonstrate that sampling media neutralize sanitizers effectively without inhibiting target organisms.
• Compendial alignment: TSA-based methods are described broadly across pharmacopeias (USP/EP/JP) for growth promotion testing and environmental monitoring; users should follow their site master file and regulatory guidance. Item-specific compliance claims are Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.

Packaging/form factor, sterility, and specific performance certification are not specified here; consult the CoA/Spec Sheet and your quality system requirements before use in GMP settings.

Physical Properties

Because this is a complex dehydrated medium, single-compound physical constants are not applicable.

• Appearance: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet. (Typical: beige to light tan, free-flowing powder, literature.)
• Solubility (in water): Designed to fully suspend/dissolve upon heating; forms a gel upon cooling due to agar (literature).
• pH (prepared medium): Typical TSA pH near neutrality (e.g., ~7.3 at 25 °C after autoclaving, literature). Item-specific pH not provided; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Gel strength: Determined by agar content; item-specific value not provided; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Moisture content (dehydrated): Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Density/bulk density: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Melting/solidification: Prepared agar gels liquefy on heating (~85–95 °C) and solidify on cooling (~35–45 °C), literature values dependent on agar type and concentration.
• Shelf-life: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.

Notes:

• Any BP/MP, refractive index, logP, or UV cutoff are not meaningful for this heterogeneous blend. Performance-relevant properties are pH after sterilization, clarity, and gel firmness, which should be verified per your lab’s QC or the supplied CoA.

Quality and Grades

• Item-specific grade: BioReagent
  • Meaning (general): Suitable for biological and microbiological laboratory applications where consistent nutrient content, sterility after preparation, and growth performance are critical. BioReagent typically implies tighter controls on bioburden, endotoxin, and trace contaminants than technical grade (vendor-dependent).
• What to expect for this item:
  • Consistent growth performance of a wide range of aerobic and facultative bacteria when prepared per directions (literature for TSA).
  • Inclusion of lecithin specifically to neutralize residual surface disinfectants (notably quaternary ammonium compounds) during environmental monitoring or surface sampling workflows.
• Not included/Not specified for this item:
  • Exact quantitative composition, pH specification, sterility or growth-promotion test results: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Practical implications:
  • For regulated microbiology (e.g., QC labs), verify each lot using growth-promotion testing (GPT) with compendial strains as per USP/EP/JP guidance (literature).
  • If low background fluorescence/absorbance or special selectivity is required, choose a medium designed for that purpose; TSA is general-purpose and non-selective.
• Stabilizers/preservatives: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Shipping/handling: Shipped under normal conditions; protect from moisture.

Reaction and Applications

This product is used for microbiological cultivation rather than chemical synthesis. The most relevant “applications” are culture and monitoring workflows.

Key applications (literature/general practice):

• General-purpose cultivation of aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria from environmental, food, cosmetic, and industrial samples. TSA is non-selective and supports a wide nutritional spectrum due to casein/soy peptones.
• Environmental monitoring and surface recovery: The added lecithin neutralizes quaternary ammonium disinfectants that can otherwise carry over from sanitized surfaces and suppress colony recovery, improving accuracy of hygiene assessments.
• Microbial enumeration: Plate count methods (spread, pour, membrane filtration) for total aerobic counts, bioburden trending, and process control.
• Disinfectant efficacy studies: As a recovery medium in neutralization validation and surface challenge tests where QACs are used.

Practical tips:

• Thoroughly dissolve medium with heat; adjust volume losses by evaporation before sterilization to maintain target concentration (literature practice).
• Autoclave at 121 °C for 15 min; cool to 45–50 °C before pouring plates to minimize condensation and preserve neutralizer activity of heat-labile supplements (lecithin is generally heat-stable; confirm per CoA if provided).
• For environmental monitoring, pre-warm plates to room temperature to prevent condensation “skating” of samples.
• Perform growth promotion testing (GPT) on each lot with representative organisms (e.g., S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, B. subtilis; literature) according to compendial guidance.

Reaction Conditions

Chemical reaction conditions are not applicable. For microbiological preparation conditions (literature/general practice):

• Reconstitution: Suspend the dehydrated medium in purified water with gentle stirring. Exact grams per liter for this item are not specified; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet. Typical TSA concentrations in literature are around 40 g/L; lecithin-containing formulations vary by supplier.
• Dissolution: Heat with frequent mixing until the agar is fully melted and the solution is clear.
• Sterilization: Autoclave at 121 °C for 15 minutes (standard microbiology practice). Avoid over-sterilization to preserve nutrient quality.
• Pouring: Cool to 45–50 °C, then dispense into sterile plates or containers. Allow plates to solidify on a level surface; dry plates (closed) at room temperature or in a laminar-flow cabinet to remove surface moisture before use.
• Storage of prepared plates: Typically 2–8 °C in sealed sleeves to minimize desiccation; shelf-life depends on local QC and packaging. Item-specific guidance Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.

These conditions are provided as general literature guidance only and are not item-specific specifications.

Safety and Handling

• GHS classification: Not specified for this item; refer to SDS.
• Signal word / H-statements / pictograms: Not specified for this item; refer to SDS.

General safety guidance for dehydrated culture media (literature/practice):

• Potential hazards: Low intrinsic chemical hazard; main risks are dust inhalation, eye irritation, and biological contamination risk once rehydrated/used for cultivation. Treat all used media as biohazardous.
• PPE: Lab coat, safety glasses, nitrile gloves. Use a dust mask or handle in a fume hood/BSL cabinet if dust generation is possible.
• Handling:
  • Avoid creating dust. Weigh gently; close containers promptly to prevent moisture uptake and clumping.
  • Prepare and pour plates in a clean area; for sterile work use a Class II biosafety cabinet where appropriate.
• Incompatibilities: Strong oxidizers and strong acids/bases may degrade organic components. Avoid contact with moisture until use.
• First aid (overview; consult SDS):
  • Inhalation: Move to fresh air; seek medical attention if irritation persists.
  • Eye contact: Rinse cautiously with water for several minutes; remove contact lenses if present and easy to do.
  • Skin contact: Wash with soap and water.
  • Ingestion: Rinse mouth; do not induce vomiting; seek medical advice if needed.
• Sterilization: Autoclave at 121 °C for 15 minutes (literature practice). Do not autoclave sealed containers of dry medium.
• Waste: Autoclave or chemically disinfect used media before disposal per institutional biosafety protocols.

Solvent Selection

This product is a dehydrated culture medium; solvent selection pertains to reconstitution rather than chemical reaction media.

• Primary solvent: Purified or deionized water (per laboratory microbiology practice). Avoid high ionic strength or buffered waters that can shift pH/gelation.
• Miscibility: The medium components are water-soluble/suspendable upon heating; agar requires heating to fully melt and form a clear solution.
• Practical guidance (literature):
  • Wet the powder with a portion of cold water first to minimize clumping; then add remaining water and heat to dissolve.
  • Avoid organic solvents; they precipitate peptones and disrupt agar gelling.
  • If adding supplements (e.g., neutralizers, blood), add post-sterilization at 45–50 °C under aseptic conditions.
• When to choose TSA (with lecithin) vs alternatives:
  • Choose TSA+lecithin for surface sampling and environmental monitoring where residues of quaternary ammonium disinfectants may be present.
  • Consider TSA with lecithin + polysorbate (Tween 80) when neutralization of both QACs and phenolics is required (literature), or D/E (Dey-Engley) agar for broad-spectrum neutralization.
• Water quality:
  • Use water meeting your facility’s microbiology grade (e.g., ASTM Type II or better). High TOC or microbial load can confound performance testing.

Storage and Reconstitution

• Storage (item-specific): Room temperature as provided. Protect container from humidity; keep tightly closed. Shipped under normal conditions.
• Shelf-life: Not specified for this item; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet.
• Reconstitution (general literature guidance; not item-specific):
  1. Calculate required volume. Add dehydrated medium to purified water while stirring. Exact grams per liter for this item are Not specified; refer to CoA/Spec Sheet. (Typical TSA formulations use ~40 g/L; lecithin level varies.)
  2. Heat with frequent mixing until agar is fully dissolved and solution is clear.
  3. Adjust for evaporation to achieve target volume; verify pH if required by your SOP (typical TSA ~7.3 at 25 °C after autoclaving; literature).
  4. Autoclave at 121 °C for 15 minutes.
  5. Cool to 45–50 °C; add any heat-labile supplements aseptically if used; pour plates or dispense into tubes.
• Prepared media handling:
  • Store poured plates inverted in sealed sleeves at 2–8 °C to minimize dehydration (practice varies by lab). Use-by dates should follow your site’s validated hold times.
  • Avoid repeated melting/re-solidifying; this can degrade nutrients and alter gel strength.

Research use note: For research use only.

Structure and Identity

• Item type: Complex dehydrated microbiological medium (not a single defined chemical). Contains enzymatic digests of casein and soybean (peptones), sodium chloride, agar, and lecithin (neutralizer). Exact composition percentages are manufacturer-specific.
• Molecular formula: Not applicable to mixtures.
• Molecular weight: Not applicable to mixtures.
• SMILES / InChI / InChIKey: Not applicable to complex media; not defined for this item.
• Structural features (general):
  • Peptone fraction: heterogeneous mixture of short peptides, amino acids, and small nutrients from tryptic digestion (casein/soy).
  • Agar: linear galactan polysaccharide (gelling agent) from red algae; forms a thermoreversible gel.
  • Lecithin: mixture of phosphatidylcholines; functions as a surfactant/neutralizer of quaternary ammonium compounds.
• 2D description (general): No single discrete molecule; instead, a heterogeneous matrix of peptides and carbohydrates embedded in an agar network once hydrated and sterilized.
• Identity notes (item-specific):
  • SKU: T1528574
  • Product name: Tryptic Soy Agar (with Lecithin)
  • Grade: BioReagent
  • Category: Life Science (microbiological culture medium)
• Verification: Identity is confirmed functionally by culture performance tests (growth promotion, sterility) rather than spectral identity—refer to CoA/Spec Sheet for item-specific test results.

Synthetic Utility

Not applicable. Tryptic Soy Agar (with Lecithin) is a complex nutrient medium for microbiology and is not used as a reagent or building block in chemical synthesis. For chemical transformations or reagent selection, refer to appropriate solvent/reagent listings.

Target Specificity

Not applicable. This product is not an antibody, probe, enzyme, or targeted capture reagent. It is a non-selective cultivation medium intended to support a broad range of aerobic and facultative microorganisms. No species/epitope specificity is implied.