What is the difference between agar and agarose?
In this brief article we are going to answer the question,”What is the difference between agar and agarose?”, and discuss what agar is, uses of agar, other terms used for agar. We will also discuss how agar is used by the human body.
What is the difference between agar and agarose?
The difference between agar and agarose is that agar is a gelatinous substance acquired from red algae whereas agarose is a linear polymer obtained by purification from agar or red seaweed.
Production of agar is less time consuming and has less complexities during the period of production than agarose. Agar is also cheaper than agarose.
What is agar?
Agar is a type of polysaccharide gelatinous substance obtained from red algae from the genus Gracilaria and Gelidium.
Agar consists of agaropectin and agarose, out of which 30% is agaropectin and the remaining 70% is agarose. Agarose is formed by long uncharged chains and agaropectin is formed by shorter and heterogeneous sulphated chains. The melting point of agar is 80 degrees celsius and has a solidification point at 40 degrees celsius.
What are the uses of Agar?
Agar is used as a preparatory substance as a growth media for bacteria, fungal and other microbial cultivation in the field of research in science and medicine.
The polysaccharide in agar is known as galactose, which might also be useful as gelatin for the substitution for meat in the vegan population. Agar is found in the supporting structure of cell walls of certain species of algae and can be extracted after boiling those algae.
Agar is also used as a food ingredient in traditional desserts of Japan and Maly/Indonesia.
Therefore, it is also used as a solidifying agent in microbiological areas. Agar is used as an ingredient in gellies, ice creams, gulaman and zefir. Agar is also used as a laxative, to suppress appetite, and as a substitute for gelatin. It is also used for thickening of soups.
Agar is also used to treat diabetes and to make dental impressions in the field of dentistry. Agar is used as an ingredient in emulsions for emulsifying fats, as a suspension and gelling agent and some specific suppositories.
What are some other terms used for agar?
Some other terms used for agar are Kanten, Japanese isinglass, Ceylon moss, Jeffena moss
How is agar used by the human body?
The gel-like substance in agar bulks up in the gut which stimulates the intestines to initiate a bowel movement also known as peristalsis. This bulking effect is helpful as a laxative to treat constipation as it lowers the contact time of faeces with the intestines and alsow increased the gastric emptying rate (The rate at which food goes down from the stomach to the small intestine
Agar also gives a feeling of fullness known as satiety, which might also lead to weight loss. But this is just a theory and is not backed up by scientific evidence.
What is agarose?
Agarose is a type of polysaccharide obtained from agar or red seaweed. Red seaweed is acquired and cultivated in some parts of Asia and the US. Agarose contains a linear chain of agarobiose; a disaccharide produced from D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactopyranose.
What are the uses of Agarose?
Agarose is used for bacterial cultivation and is a useful substance for preparing gels such as agarose gel electrophoresis which is used for the separation of DNA. During electrophoresis ,agarose is shown to form a gel matrix which can easily turn to liquid or melt at higher temperatures and easily turns to gel when cooled down.
Agarose is also used in immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis and also in bacterial cultures. The role of agarose is to create structures with the capacity to seperate or fix various different particles and molecules by means of chromatographic techniques. Role of agarose in the field of microbiology is less compared to agar.
Conclusion
In this brief article we have answered the question,”What is the difference between agar and agarose?”, and discuss what agar is, uses of agar, and other terms used for agar. We will also discuss how agar is used by the human body.
