What is this medium used for?
Sodium hippurate is a medium used for determining the presence of the enzyme hippuricase which provides the ability of an unknown organism to hydrolyze hippurate into its components glycine (an amino acid) and benzoic acid.
How is hippurate hydrolysis determined?
After inoculation and incubation, the reagent ninhydrin is added to the tube and incubated briefly to react with the culture and reveal whether the products of the enzyme hippuricase are present. Appearance of a deep blue color indicates a positive result.
What is the content of this medium?
The medium used is an aqueous solution of 1% hippurate solution (1 g of sodium hippurate in 100 ml of sterile distilled water). No other growth factors or ingredients are present.
How is the test performed?
For information on how to use this medium to determine the ability of a microbe to hydrolyze hippurate, refer to the “Hippurate Hydrolysis” test.