9002-18-0

white to pale yellow or tan crystalline powder, no odour

Substitute for gelatin, isinglass, etc. in making emulsions including photographic, gels in cosmetics, and as thickening agent in foods especially. confectionaries and dairy products; in meat canning; in production of medicinal encapsulations and ointments; as dental impression mold base; as corrosion inhibitor; sizing for silks and paper; in the dyeing and printing of fabrics and textiles; in adhesives. In nutrient media for bacterial cultures.

Tan powder.

Flammable and/or toxic gases are generated by the combination of alcohols with alkali metals, nitrides, and strong reducing agents. They react with oxoacids and carboxylic acids to form esters plus water. Oxidizing agents convert them to aldehydes or ketones. They exhibit both weak acid and weak base behavior.

Water insoluble.

Flash point data for this chemical are not available. AGAR AGAR is probably combustible.

Agar is found in several species of red marine algae in oceans around the world.

agar: An extract of certain species ofred seaweeds that is used as a gellingagent in microbiological culturemedia, foodstuffs, medicines, andcosmetic creams and jellies. Nutrientagar consists of a broth made frombeef extract or blood that is gelledwith agar and used for the cultivationof bacteria, fungi, and somealgae.

Agar is obtained by freeze-drying a mucilage derived from Gelidium amansii Lamouroux, other species of the same family (Gelidiaceae), or other red algae (Rhodophyta).

Also known as agar, the word agar-agar is of Malaysian origin. It refers to the red seaweeds belonging to genus Eucheuma, used widely in Malaysia for making a gelatinous material.
Agar is a mucilage synthesized by red algae and stored along with cellulose in the cell wall. It is a dry, amorphous and gelatine-like extract, devoid of any nonnitrogenous material from Gelidium and other agarophytes. The extract is the sulphuric acid ester of a linear galactan, soluble in hot water but insoluble in cold water. A 1.5% agar solution can form a firm gel at around 35℃ (with a melting point above 85℃), the gel being a mixture of a partially methylated neutral polysaccharide (agarose) and sulphuric acid ester (agaropectin) of a linear galactan. The gel is made under steam pressure or by boiling, and its agar content depends on the algal species, season and extraction method.
Agar is manufactured from various algae or seaweeds called agarophytes, whereas the term agaroidophyte denotes the red seaweeds that yield a substance chemically akin to an agar-like substance, but with different viscosity and gelling properties. The important agarophytes used for extraction of agar are Acanthopeltis japonica, Ahnfeltia plicata and species under the genera Gelidium, Gracilaria and Rerocladia. Other red algae are Comphylaephora, Eucheuma, Hypnea, Gigartina and Furcellaria.
Different countries use different red algae for making agar. For example, Suhria, Gelidium, Pterocladia, and Ahnfeltia are used in South Africa, the US, New Zealand and Russia respectively. Often, the alga carries the name of that country where it is used. For example, Ceylon agar (or Ceylon moss) refers to the dried red seaweed Gracilaria lichenoides found mainly in Sri Lanka, whereas the same alga found along the Indian coast bordering the Indian Ocean is called Bengal isinglass. Gracilaria verrucosa in China is known as Chinese moss, whereas in Japan, agar-agar made from Gelidium sp. is called Kanten, which means cold sky, because it was made in cold winter days or high up in the mountains.
Agar is used for many purposes - as a solidifying agent in the culture medium used for multiplication of beneficial bacteria like Azotobacter and Azospirillum during biofertilizer production, for algal growth, for canning tuna fish (in Japan), in the sizing of fabrics, etc. Various grades of agar are used as coating material for waterproofing paper and cloth, as a glue, as a cleaning medium for liquids, as a lubricant, in hot drawing of tungsten wire for electrical lamps (for which a suspension of powdered graphite in agar gel is used), for making photographic plates and films, for imparting gloss and stiffness to leather, and as an adhesive in the manufacture of plywood. Agar is even used in food products, for thickening soups, sauces, ice creams, malted milks, jellies, candies and pastries. Due to its high temperature tolerance, agar is fovored in food products. It substitutes pectin for making jellies, jams, marmalades, etc. and serves as a clarifying agent in the manufacture of wine, beer and coffee.

Agar is widely used in food applications as a stabilizing agent. In pharmaceutical applications, agar is used in a handful of oral tablet and topical formulations. It has also been investigated in a number of experimental pharmaceutical applications including as a sustained-release agent in gels, beads, microspheres, and tablets.It has also been reported to work as a disintegrant in tablets.
Agar has been used in a floating controlled-release tablet; the buoyancy in part being attributed to air entrapped in the agar gel network.It can be used as a viscosity-increasing agent in aqueous systems. Agar can also be used as a base for nonmelting, and nondisintegrating suppositories.Agar has an application as a suspending agent in pharmaceutical suspensions.

Bacteriological agar is commonly used as a culture medium for microorganism. It is useful for fermentation process. Agar-agar serves as a preservative in food processing. It also possesses various other applications such as an emulsifier, carrier, lubricant, stabilizer, laxative disintegrant in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Agar-agar is also used in photographic emulsion.

Agar is widely used in food applications and has been used in oral and topical pharmaceutical applications. It is generally regarded as relatively nontoxic and nonirritant when used as an excipient.
LD₅₀ (hamster, oral): 6.1 g/kg
LD₅₀ (mouse, oral): 16.0 g/kg
LD₅₀ (rabbit, oral): 5.8 g/kg
LD₅₀ (rat, oral): 11.0 g/kg

Agar solutions are most stable at pH 4–10.
Agar should be stored in a cool, dry, place. Containers of this material may be hazardous when empty since they retain product residues (dust, solids).

Agar is incompatible with strong oxidizing agents. Agar is dehydrated and precipitated from solution by ethanol (95%). Tannic acid causes precipitation; electrolytes cause partial dehydration and decrease in viscosity of sols.