What is muller hinton agar?

Muller Hinton Agar (MHA) is a solid medium used to cultivate and isolate bacteria for diagnostic purposes, susceptibility testing, and antibiotic research. It was first developed in 1941 by John Howard Muller and Jane Hinton to isolate pathogenic organisms. MHA is a standardized medium with a composition that provides optimal growth for a broad range of microorganisms, including both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The key components of MHA are beef extract, casein hydrolysate, and starch. The pH of the medium is 7.3, and it has a specific calcium-ion concentration to enhance colony growth. Additionally, MHA has no inhibitors of bacterial growth and is a transparent, non-selective medium. MHA can be prepared with different concentrations of divalent cations, making it suitable for the susceptibility testing of bacteria against antibiotics. Overall, MHA is a versatile and widely used medium in microbiology for various applications.