Agar, scientific name agar, English name Agar, also known as agar, frozen powder, asparagus essence, agar powder, cold weather. Agar has extremely useful and unique properties in the application of food industry.
Agar is a polysaccharide extracted from seaweed and is one of the most widely used seaweed gels in the world. Widely used in food industry, pharmaceutical industry, daily chemical industry, bioengineering and many other aspects. Agar used in food can obviously change the quality of food and improve the grade of food. Price is high. Its characteristics: it has physical and chemical properties such as solidification and stability, and can form complexes with some substances. It can be used as thickener, coagulant, suspending agent, emulsifier, preservative and stabilizer. It is widely used to make granular oranges and various beverages, jellies, ice cream, cakes, soft sweets, canned food, meat products, eight-treasure porridge, tremella bird's nest, soup food, cold food and so on. Agar is widely used in chemical industry and medical research.
Agar is a gelatin product made from algae in Gracilaria and Gracilaria. It is the most commonly used curing agent for microbial culture medium, and also used in canned meat, fish and poultry, cosmetics, medicines and dental care. It is used as clarifier in brewing and wine industry, thickener in making ice cream, cake and salad seasoning, and lubricant in drawing.
Agar made of seaweed is translucent amorphous powder, flake or particle. The main producing areas are Japan, New Zealand, the United States and Russia. Agar is insoluble in cold water and can absorb 20 times its own volume. Diluent is dissolved in boiling water, and remains liquid at 42℃( 108 ℉), but condenses into a tight gel at 37℃. Agar is a component of cell wall, which contains complex carbohydrates, calcium and sulfate.
Agar consists of two parts: agarose and agglutinin. Agarose, as a gelling agent, is a non-ionic polysaccharide without sulfate (salt), which is a gelling component. Its macromolecules are alternately connected with β-D- galactopyranose residues and 3,6-α-L-galactopyranose residues on 1 3 glycosidic bonds. Agar pectin is a non-gel part, which is a compound polysaccharide containing sulfate (salt), glucuronic acid and pyruvate aldehyde, and it is also the part that is tried to be removed in commercial extraction. Commercial agar generally contains 2%-7% sulfate (salt), 0%-3% pyruvate and 1%-3% methyl and ethyl. In industry, the color of agar ranges from white to yellowish, with a gelatinous texture and odorless or slightly characteristic odor. Agar is insoluble in cold water, soluble in boiling water and slowly soluble in hot water.
Agar is a kind of natural macromolecular polysaccharide, which is refined and purified by scientific methods with high quality natural seaweed, Gracilaria and laver as raw materials. It contains many elements, and has the functions of clearing away heat, relieving summer heat, stimulating appetite and strengthening the spleen.
Agar has long been recognized as a safe product by the regulations of the US Food and Drug Administration, and has been approved as a food additive as a special topic in the Pharmacopoeia of Food Chemicals.
Agar is a hydrophilic colloid, which is divided into strip and powder, insoluble in cold water and soluble in hot water. Agar is of unique importance in industry. Even if the concentration of agar is as low as 1%, it can still form a fairly stable gel (jelly), which is a necessary raw material for food industry, chemical industry and medical research.