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Agar

  • Chapter
Hydrocolloid Applications

Abstract

Agar was discovered in Japan in the mid-17th century (Yanagawa, 1942; Hayashi and Okazaki, 1970; Matsuhashi, 1978), although its name is Malayan (designating certain seaweeds and the jellies produced from them). The Japanese term for agarkanten,means ‘cold sky’ and refers to the cold winter days or the cold weather in the mountains where such materials were manufactured. Following agar’s exploitation in Japan, its use as a food was introduced to the natives by Chinese settlers (Tseng, 1946). The consumption of various kinds of agar-gel-like seaweed extracts probably dates back to prehistoric times in the coastal areas of Japan. Agar and its ability to produce fruit and vegetable jellies were introduced to Europe by Dutch people living in Indonesia. In 1882, Robert Koch introduced agar as a culture medium to the world. Its introduction to bacteriology followed, after its first application by Walter Hesse (who got the idea from his wife Frau Fanny Hesse) as a replacement for gelatin in culturing microbes. Agar has since become the single most important bacteriological medium. Today, Ge?iite-gellan gum is used as a partial alternative to agar media and in related applications, particularly for culturing thermophilic microorganisms, since Gelrite gels are thermostable and can withstand prolonged incubations at high temperatures (Lin and Cassida, 1987).

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  1. Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    A. Nussinovitch

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Nussinovitch, A. (1997). Agar. In: Hydrocolloid Applications. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6385-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6385-3_1

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