We were using Ammonium Chloride (Molecular Biology Grade; Merck brand, Product No.168320) and Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (EMPROVE® bio Ph Eur, BP, JP, USP Sodium hydrogen carbonate suitable for the biopharma production; Merck brand, Product No. 1.37013) as ingredients of bacteria culture solution. Ammonium Chloride acts as Ammonium source and Sodium bicarbonate acts as pH stabilizer in the solution.
Now, we finished these chemicals and urgently need to continue our tests with preparation of new culture solution. We have just those type of Ammonium Chloride and Sodium Bicarbonate which are not specially for cell culture (Ammonium chloride for analysis EMSURE® ACS,ISO,Reag. Ph Eur; Merck, 101145 and Sodium hydrogen carbonate for analysis EMSURE® ACS,Reag.Ph Eur; Merck, 106329).
Can we use these chemicals instead of those are for cell culture? No growth happens?
Bah!! It does not matter. What matters are the solutions are sterile (filtered via 0,2um if you wish) , aliquoted, and tested for contamination growth prior to use. As an addedd measure look at the levels of "other components" listed in the spec sheet, you will ifnd they are all within acceptable limits and will not interfere with cell growth.
I am a civil engineer and have no expertise in cell culture and chemicals. I asked the question due to a problem i encountered recently in choosing true type of Yeast extract.
No growth occurred when I used Yeast Extract (Sigma, Y4000) while growth happened when I changed it to Y1625 which was suitable for cell culture.
Dear Quentin and Philipp
I agree with your opinion, that in the case of simple salts such as ammonium chloride and sodium bicarbonate, there is virtually no risk of harm to carry out experiments, when we filtered of the prepared solutions.
However, it should be noted, that reputable manufacturers of chemical reagents for microbiology offer a wide range of compounds for microbiological analysis, which are manufactured under a special technological process. This makes possible to obtain chemicals with strictly defined properties, and above to clearly defined microbiologically (mainly good sterilization).
The use of these reagents is often justified - especially when we carried out repeatedly, routine tests.
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