Question

identify how and why the pH of culture media is controlled.

Answer 1

pH of media is always controlled because bacteria have a certain pH range on which they grow. Actually for their growth enzymes play a very important role which catalyzes certain reactions required for their growth. he pH range is very crucial for every enzyme and when the pH is changed the enzyme gets denatured and stops its function thereby affecting the growth of the bacteria negatively. So the pH of the media is maintained on that specific range like between 6 and 7.5 which is the ideal pH range of bacterial growth.

Sometimes as a part of metabolism bacteria themselves produce acids that eventually interfere with their own growth. To Neutralize these acids and maintain the proper pH, chemical buffers are included in the growth medium like phosphate buffers, peptones or certain amino acids that resist the change in the pH. Thus the pH is maintained by the addition of certain buffers.