A short scheme for the identification of ‘viridans’ streptococci commonly isolated from the human mouth

A short scheme for the identification of those viridans streptococci commonly isolated from the human mouth was produced by selecting the most discriminating tests from the study made by Facklam (1977). The scheme comprised tests for the fermentation of mannitol, sorbitol, inulin, raffinose, melibiose and trehalose; the hydrolysis of arginine and aesculin and the production of dextran or levan from sucrose. The scheme was cost‐effective in terms of preparation time and materials and was shown to reliably identify over 86% of the streptococci strains used in the study.