Agar

Description

A gelatin-like, polysaccharide substance extracted from various species of red Seaweed, belonging to the Rhodophyceae class, that grow in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Japan Sea. According to legend, agar was first discovered in the mid-17th century in Japan. Agar contains agarose and agaropectin. Agar is available in dried cakes, coarse granules, long strips and thin sheets. It is strongly hydrophilic and can absorb over 20 times its own weight in cold water. Agar dissolves in hot water and forms a stiff, clear jelly upon cooling, even at concentrations as low as 0.7%. However, when agar films are desiccated, they shrink significantly. Most commonly used as a media for culturing bacteria and fungi, agar has also been used for sizing textiles and paper. It is an important emulsifying agent in foodstuffs, photographs, dental mold materials, cosmetics, and adhesives. Agar was also used to make an experimental synthetic gauzelike fabric in England. The primary commercial sources for agar are Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, and the United States.

Synonyms and Related Terms

agar-agar (AAT); agar (Esp., Port.); agar agar (It.); agar-agar (Fr.); agar agar; agal-agal; Chinese isinglass; Chinese gelating; Japanese gelatin; Japanese isinglass; kantan; Australian agar; gelose; Bengal isinglass; Bengal gelatin; Ceylon isinglass; Ceylon gelatin; agarose

Other Properties

Insoluble in ethanol; swells in cold water. Slowly soluble in hot water and forms a gel on cooling (37-40 C)

CAS	9002-18-0
Melting Point	60-97 (gel)

Hazards and Safety

Nonflammable. No known hazards.

Mallinckrodt Baker: MSDS

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p.19

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "agar" Encyclopædia Britannica [Accessed February 12, 2002].

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles, Phyllis G.Tortora, Robert S. Merkel (eds.), Fairchild Publications, New York City, 7th edition, 1996

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000 Comment: preferred term: agar-agar

• S.R.Trotman, E.R. Trotman, Textile Analysis, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1932

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997