Enrichment culture

An enrichment culture is a medium with specific and known qualities that favors the growth of a particular microorganism. The enrichment culture's environment will support the growth of a selected microorganism, while inhibiting the growth of others. Lourens Bass Becking succinctly summarized enrichment cultures' abilities when he said "everything is everywhere; the environment selects." Enrichment cultures are similar to selective growth mediums however, enrichment cultures are used to increase the small number of a desired organism to detectable levels. They are used because these targeted bacteria may be easy to miss on other cultures where they would not grow in populations large enough to be detectable. Enrichment cultures are often used for soil and fecal samples.