Oatmeal is a source of amino acids, peptides, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals for fungal growth. Agar is the gelifying agent.

A nutritionally impoverished medium, Oatmeal Agar stimulates the organism to produce conidial growth, particularly macroconidia in the case of many filamentous fungal organisms, particularly dermatophytes, as well as chlamydospore formation  in yeasts, making it a particularly suitable medium for the study of fungal morphology and identification.

Because of it’s low nutrient levels, Oatmeal Agar is also a suitable medium for the long term storage of yeasts and moulds, the medium being poured in slope form in screw capped vials.