TSI Medium blackening due to H2S production
(left tube)
False-positive H2S production on TSI medium (left).
TSI (Triple Sugar Iron)
DESCRIPTION
Test checks simultaneously for the production of hydrogen sulfide, acid fermentation
of lactose, sacharose, glucose and gas production from glucose. Medium, together
with MIU and Simmons agar,  is most used for Enterobacteriaceae identification,
especially Escherichia and Salmonella.
MEDIUM PREPARATION
Composition:
Peptic peptone 10g, Casein peptone 10g, Meat extract 3g, Yeast extract 3g, Lactose
10g, Sacharose 10g, Dextrose 1g, NaCl 5g, Fe
2SO4 0.2g, Na-thyosulphate 0.3g,
Phenol red 0.024g, Agar 12g, H
2O ad 1000 ml.
Pour the medium filling the bottom half of the tube and creating a slant in the upper
half.

PROCEDURE
Harvest a well isolated colony and inoculate a TSI tube by stabbing the medium then
zigzag streaking on the surface of the slant. Incubate at 37 °C, 24 hours.

RESULTS
H
2S production: positive if a black precipitate of iron sulfide forms.
Lactose / sacharose fermentation: positive for yellow  color of slant and negative for
red.
Glucose fermentation: positive if medium changes to yellow, negative if no changes
occur.
Gas production: gas bubbles captured in the bottom part of the medium are
observed. Sometimes gas production is so high that medium is pushed up to the cap.
NOTES
Do not incubate more than 24 hours. False-positive or false-negative results may
appear.
Klebsiella oxytoca strains can produce a dark brown pigment when growth on media
containing gluconate and ferric citrate. The TSI slant is darkened by pigment, not by
hydrogen sulfide production.
REFERENCES:
1. Helgomar Raducanescu, Valeria.Bica-Popii,1986. Bacteriologie veterinara, Ed.
Ceres, Bucuresti.
2. Margaret Barnett, 1992. Microbiology Laboratory Exercises. Wm. C. Brown
Publishers.
TSI (left), MIU and Simmons agar
TSI, MIU & Simmons citrate
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A demonstration of TSI, MIU and Simmons utilization is available in video section.