Anaerobic Culture Media used in anaerobic bacteriology may be prepared in a fresh manner or bought from commercial vendors.
Media for anaerobic fermentation that is created in the laboratory should be used within two weeks after the time of preparation, as prolonged storage can degrade the quality of the medium due to peroxide accumulation and dehydration.
Anaerobic culture media is a source of reducers such as cysteine.
Anaerobically sterilized and pre-reduced media are made by various commercial providers, with an prolonged shelf lives that range from 6 months.
The most common plating medium for inoculating anaerobic samples is non-selective blood-agar, as well as one or more of the above mentioned selective media.