Bile Esculin Agar is used to differentiate enterococci and the Streptococcus bovis gropu from other streptococci.

• Ferric citrate acts as an indicator of esculin hydrolysis
• Oxgall inhibits gram-positive bacteria other than enterococci

Enterococci are able to split esculin, but other streptococci can not, making esculin hydrolysis a valuable procedure in the identification of enterococci.