n blood agar, three types of blood cell lysis or hemolysis are observed: alpha, beta, and gamma hemolysis.[5] It allows the growth of many microorganisms, however, their ability to lyse blood cells differs, and this helps to distinguish the bacterial colonies. For example, S. pyogenes completely lyse blood cells (beta hemolysis), thus causing total clearing of the media around its colonies. S. pneumoniae partially lyse red blood cells, resulting in a greenish-colored medium, while gamma hemolytic microorganisms like Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, can’t lyse red blood cells, thus causing no color change in the medium.