The culture media can be classified in many ways:

1.Based on their consistency

a)Solid medium

b) Liquid medium 

c)Semi solid medium

2.Based on the constituent or ingredients

a) Simple medium

b)Complex medium

c) Synthethic or defined medium

d) Special media 

→Enriched media 

→Enrichment media 

→Selective media 

→Indicator media or differential media

→Transport media 

→Sugar media 

3.Based on oxygen requirements

a)Anerobic media

b) Anaerobic media

Based on consistency

Solid media 

It contains 1.5 to 2 percentage agar to give the solid consistency for the Culture medium.The Solid media are helpful in studying the colony morphology, pigmentation and heamolysis of bacteria.The solid media is used to get an isolated pure culture of bacteria from the mixed culture.It is also used to prepare stock culture.

Example nutrients agar and blood agar.

Liquid media These do not contain agar.Liquid media are used for many purposes like preparation of inoculum to study the minimum inhibitory concentration of antibiotics and to grow bacteria for molecular studies.

Example nutrients agar and peptones water.

Semi solid medium it contains 0.5 percentage agar.It is mainly used to study the Motility of bacteria

Example mannitol Motility medium

Based on ingredients

Simple  basal medium

It contains basic nutrient for the growth of bacteria.

Example nutrients broth and nutrients agar.

Nutrients broth contain peptones,meat extract and sodium chloride.On the addition of 1.5 percentage of agar to nutrients broth,it becomes nutrients agar.peptone is used as the source of organic nitrogen.Meat extract provide vitamin, carbohydrates,salt and other organic compounds.

Complex medium complex media are media that contains some ingredients of unknown composition and concentration.

Example nutrients broth which contains meat extract.The meat extract supplies amino acid, vitamin, growth factor and other nutrients.

Synthetic or defined media the media with pure chemical substances and it's exact composition and concentration is called synthetic or defined media.

Example peptones water

Special media the media that are used for special needs categorised under special media.

Enriched media the enriched media are those media where in substance like blood,serum and egg are added to the basal medium in order to grow bacteria that are exacting in their nutritional needs, that is fastidious organism.

Example blood and chocolate agar.

Enrichment media they are liquid media use to isolate the pathogenic bacteria from a clinical sample having other commensals.Medium is in corporates with inhibitory substance to suppress the unwanted organism.Example selenite f broth for the isolation of salmonella from the faeces.

Alkaline peptones water for the isolation of vibrios cholerae from faeces.