According to me, an inoculum is the sample taken from a pure culture (or any culture) that is used to inoculate (introduce into) another medium or environment. For Example; You isolate Escherichia coli (or any bacteria) using the streak plate method (you now have a pure culture). You take a loopful from that pure culture to inoculate the nutrient broth (that loopful is your inoculum).
Add your answer to understand the difference between a Pure Culture and an inoculum
Inoculum can be any types/ combinations of bacteria but pure culture is taken from a well isolated, single colony that is assumed comprising genetically identical cells.
Pure culture and inoculum are different concepts. Pure culture is the final result, which makes it possible to study the properties of a specific bacterium without the influence of other species, and inoculum (seed material), which most often contains several types of microorganisms, is the object by which this result is achieved.
During research, the identification of bacteria without isolating a pure culture and the presence of microorganisms of other species significantly distorts the results, as a result of which incorrect conclusions are made. This problem is always relevant. With long-term storage of pure cultures that are used in production, random unregulated mutations can occur. Therefore, it is said that it is necessary to periodically transfer the microbial culture to a new nutrient medium and check for homogeneity in order to obtain only a pure culture, without impurities of other strains, which can serve as a guarantee of obtaining a product with specified properties and productivity.
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