Brain-heart infusion medium or broth (BHI, BHIM, BHIB) is a highly nutritious general-purpose growth medium, often containing agar, for culturing fastidious and nonfastidious anaerobic microorganisms, such as streptococci, pneumococci and meningococci. It is made by boiling cow or porcine hearts and brains. Boiling releases soluble factors into the broth. The broth can then be turned into powder for easy distribution. BHI broth contains sodium chloride which is used to differentiate enterococci from nonenterococcal group D streptococci. BHI broth is often used in food safety, water safety, and antibiotic sensitivity tests.
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