Speciation of Candida isolates from clinical specimens has become increasingly important due to varied antifungal susceptibility profiles of different species. The conventional methods for identification are time consuming and difficult to perform, while the automated methods are expensive. Identification of yeast by using chromogenic medium is an inexpensive, rapid and an easy to perform method. In the present study the performance of HiCrome® Candida Differential Agar for identification of common Candida species isolated from various clinical samples was compared with VITEK-2 Compact. A total of 50 consecutive clinical isolates of Candida spp. during the period from April 2017 to December 2017, were included in the study. Confirmed identification all isolates was performed using VITEK-2 Compact (Version 8.01). For presumptive identification of Candida spp., all the isolates were inoculated on HiCrome® Candida Differential Agar and incubated at 37°C for 48 hours. On the basis of coloration and colony morphology, the isolates were identified at C. albicans, C. krusei, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. VITEK-2 Compact identified 21 (42%), 15 (30%), 9 (18%), 2 (4%) isolates as C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.glabrata and C.krusei, respectively. Of the 21 isolates of C. albicans, HiCrome® Candida Differential Agar correctly identified 16 (76%), while 11 (73%) isolates of C. tropicalis were correctly identified. All isolates of C.glabrata and C.krusei were correctly identified by the chromogenic medium. Overall the 38 (80.1%) isolates of Candida spp. were correctly identified by the chromogenic medium when compared to the gold standard. HiCrome® Candida Differential Agar performed reasonably well in comparison to Vitek 2 Compact, and may prove to be a useful method for presumptive identification of Candida spp. in laboratories with limited resources.

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