Precautions of Catalase Test
The test organisms should not be taken from blood agar culture. Red Blood cells contain catalase and their presence will give a false positive test.
Culture should be 18 to 24 hours old.
Hydrogen peroxide must be fresh as it is very unstable.
Iron wire loop should not be used.
Some bacteria produce a peroxidase that catalyzes a breakdown of hydrogen peroxide causing the reaction to be weakly positive; (a few bubbles elaborated slowly). This should not be confused with a truly positive reaction.
Do not add organism to reagent, particularly if iron-containing inoculating loops are used. Iron containing loops will cause false positive test results if exposed to hydrogen peroxide.
Catalase Test- Principle, Uses, Procedure, Result Interpretation with Precautions
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