How Do You Make Potato Dextrose Agar?
Potato dextrose agar (PDA) is a good general-purpose semisolid medium used for culturing fungi. It is often used to isolate, grow and maintain mushroom-forming species. Ready-made petri dishes or test tubes containing PDA can be purchased, or PDA can be quickly made using a commercial premix. However, it is not hard to make a simple and effective version from scratch at little cost. Place potatoes in a saucepan with approximately 1.2 liters of tap water and boil on a stove for 1 hour. Remove saucepan from heat and let liquid cool until it can be comfortably handled (about 10 minutes). Pour liquid potato extract through a strainer or cheesecloth and collect it in another container. Add dextrose and agar to 1 liter of the potato extract water. Test the pH of the solution with pH test paper or a pH meter. If the pH is above 6.5, adjust it down by adding one drop of the hydrochloric acid solution at a time and retesting. If the pH is below 6, adjust it up by adding one drop of the sodium h
