| Technique | UREASE ,(/,)/,( |
| Principle | Urea agar can be used to demonstrate urease production by Proteus species. It will also detect smaller amounts of urease produced by some coliform and other enterics, thus differentiating them from urease negative Salmonella and Shigella . |
| Cautions | Broth urea tests react in 5-60 minutes |
| Method | A h eavy inoculum is spread over the surface of a urea agar slant. |
| Results | Urease activity is observed by a change of colour in the indicator to red |
| Positive control | A positive urease after 2- 4 hours
incubation at 37 C indicates a Proteus species, a positive test after 24 hours might indicate a Klebsiella or an Enterobacter. |
| Negative control | Salmonella |
| Reagents | |
| Reference |