Description
Hemoglobin powder is freeze-dried hemoglobin for use in preparing microbiological culture media. Hemoglobin Powder is obtained from desiccated beef blood. Hemoglobin Powder is used with GC Agar in the preparation of Chocolate Agar, Thayer-Martin Medium, Modified Thayer-Martin Medium, Martin-Lewis Agar, and Transgrow Agar. Supplemented with Hemoglobin Powder and growth enrichment, these enriched media are used for the isolation and cultivation of fastidious microorganisms, especially Nesseria spp. and Haemophilus spp. Hemoglobin Powder provides hemin (X factor) required for growth of Haemophilus and for enhanced growth of Neisseria spp. In the preparation of Chocolate Agar, Hemoglobin powder is used in a 2% solution.
Hemoglobin is composed of one globin plus four hemes; heme consists of protoporphyrin IX and ferrous iron. The iron content of human hemoglobin is 0.338% (w/w) which gives a minimal molecular weight of 16,520; however, ultracentrifugal and osmotic pressure measurements indicate an actual molecular weight four times the minimum molecular weight