Malassezia is a fungi naturally found on the skin of many animals, including humans. On normal healthy skin it does not cause infections, but when the environment of the skin is altered, Malassezia species are able to cause several cutaneous diseases as severe dermatitis or otitis (inflammation of the skin or ears respectively)

 

Since members of the genus Malassezia share similar morphological and biochemical characteristics, the use of traditional culture media for differentiating them based on phenotypic features is not suitable. CHROMagar Malassezia was developed with the goal of facilitating not only their detection, but also to improve an algorithm for the differentiation of the most common species (see: Revised Culture-Based System for Identification of Malassezia Species, by Takamasa et al. JCM No-2007)