Description
Our pre-poured MEA agar containers (Malt Extract Agar) are ideal for mushroom cultivation, perfectly suited for checking contamination and isolating cultures. The accurate pouring process ensures optimal moisture retention, preventing the agar from drying out and prolonging the viability of your cultures. This method simplifies isolation and transfer to other agar plates.
Your purchase includes:
- 10x Agar container with Malt Extract Agar
These plates must be stored in a cool, dark spot away from direct sunlight, direct heat, or cold sources like a fan or a heater. Once the plate is colonized to the desired level, it can be kept in the fridge to slow down the mycelium growth. These containers are more contamination-resistant than a petri dish and do not require parafilm, making them very economical. However, if kept sealed, they cannot preserve the mycelium longer than 3 months. Opening them occasionally will help remove all carbon dioxide and introduce fresh air, helping them keep longer than 3 months. However, do so in a clean, sterile space.
Shelf life: 90 days if the lid is snapped correctly into the container and left unopened.
However, it may last considerably longer than 6 months if stored correctly.
We recommend an MEA container for the following:
- Isolating mycelium away from contamination
- Isolating a sector
- Checking for contamination in spore syringe or liquid culture
- Spore germination (Use MEAG plate instead for the best result as MEAG is resistant to bacterial contamination).
MEA agar is the most versatile medium to grow fungi, but the only downside is that it will grow anything that is introduced to it. So, it may not be best to use it for growing spores, for example. Spore syringes or spore prints may carry some contamination in them, and they will also start growing. Using a MEAG will reduce the risk of at least bacterial contamination from showing up on the plate, as bacteria cannot propagate on the MEAG medium. Therefore, use MEA, especially if you want to test if the culture, spore print, or syringe is clean.
Explore more Pre-Poured Agar Plates in our store.
