Abstract
Selective agar media were constructed for the counting of bifidobacteria in dairy produ- cts containing bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and streptococci. This media containing antibiotics inhibited the growth of lactobacilli and streptococci at less than 10$^{5}$ cfu/ml, but had no influence on the recovery of bifidobacteria. In order to inhibit the growth of 10$^{5}$ cfu/ml of lactobacilli and streptoco- cci, the addition of 1.0~2.0 $\mu$g/ml of tetracycline in BL agar medium was needed. When 25 $\mu$g/ml of neomycin and paromomycin were mixed with 1.0 $\mu$g/ml of tetracycline in BL agar medium, it was able to inhibit the growth of 10$^{6}$ cfu/ml of lactobacilli and streptococci but had a little negative effect on the recovery of colonies of bifidobacteria. The results revealed that the BL agar medium containing 1.0 $\mu$g/ml of tetracycline was suitable to count the cell number of bifidobacteria selecti- vely in the presence of a 1 to 10$^{5}$-fold excess of L. casei, L. acidophilus and S. salivarius subsp.thermophilus.