agar
Sign in to savethumb|Green tea-flavored yōkan, a popular Japanese red bean jelly made from agar thumb|A blood agar plate used to culture bacteria and diagnose infection
AI overview
Agar is a gel-like substance derived from seaweed that can be used to make desserts and jelly dishes, and is also widely used in laboratories to grow bacteria for medical diagnosis and research. It matters because it's a versatile ingredient that serves both culinary and scientific purposes across different cultures and fields.
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Article
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Chemical composition
- Physical properties
- Uses
- Culinary
- Asian culinary
- Other culinary
- Microbiology
- Agar plate
- Motility assays
- Plant biology
- Other uses
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Green tea-flavored yōkan, a popular Japanese red bean jelly made from agar thumb|A blood agar plate used to culture bacteria and diagnose infection
Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from the Gracilaria genus (Irish moss, ogonori) and the Gelidiaceae family (tengusa). As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, the linear polysaccharide agarose and a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules called agaropectin. It forms the supporting structure in the cell walls of certain species of algae and is released on boiling. These algae are known as agarophytes, belonging to the Rhodophyta (red algae) phylum. The processing of food-grade agar removes the agaropectin, and the commercial product is essentially pure agarose.