Evaluation of four commercial systems for identification of medically important yeasts

Four commercially available systems for identification of yeasts were evaluated using 178 clinical isolates and seven reference strains previously identified by a conventional method. After 72 h of incubation, the rate of correct identification was 86.5% with API20C Aux, 86% with Auxacolor, 68% with Mycotube and 51.1% with Candifast. When considering only the reference strains included in the manufacturers' databases, the identification rate was 90%, 91%, 87% and 61.2% respectively. Although the results at 72 h obtained with API20C Aux and Auxacolor were similar, Auxacolor led to more rapid identification of the strains, 67.9% versus 14.6% being identified at 24 h and 80.9% versus 64% being identified at 48 h.