It has been demonstrated that the recovery of heated or dried cells of S. aureus may be lost or its activity reduced by heating or drying and that blood, which contains catalase, or the addition of pyruvate, helped in the enumeration by destroying hydrogen peroxide produced by recovering cells. Baird-Parker agar is most satisfactory in enumerating injured cells when compared with other staphylococcal selective media. Some authors have suggested that most staphylococcal species of clinical significance can be identified on the basis of a few key characteristics. These include colony morphology, coagulase production, oxygen requirements, haemolysis, novobiocin resistance, acetylmethylcarbinol (acetoin) production, aerobic utilization of selected carbohydrates and certain enzyme activities.
On a non-selective agar such as tryptic soy agar or nutrient agar, most staphylococcal species grow abundantly in 18-24 hours when incubated at 35"C, with colony diameter generally 1-3 mm. Colony morphology may be an aid to species identification, and colony pigmentation is of importance.