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AGAR CONTAINS MORE FIBER THAN AN APPLE

One of the most important properties of agar is that it is an abundant source of fiber for our organism. Fiber is essential in our daily diet for several reasons that we will detail below.

As we all know, fiber balances our digestive system, but it is also beneficial for the heart, cholesterol, helps maintain stable blood sugar levels and there are even studies that relate it to psychological benefits.

Agar contains 94,80% of soluble natural fiber, which supposes a quantity superior to the rest of the foods of vegetal origin. The foods enriched in fiber (breads, cookies, breakfast cereals, bran, etc.) contain from 6% to 45% of fiber.

The content of dietary supplements, tablets and granulates ranges from 20% to 80% fiber. And an apple? A medium apple, eaten with skin, contains 4 grams of fiber.

As we have seen, agar can become one of the main ingredients in the kitchen to provide the recommended amount of fiber in our daily diet. For this reason, more and more people consider it a staple in their pantry. There is a wide variety of recipes in which we can use agar: flans, jams, sauces, sweet and savory cakes, creams… In this way, it is becoming easier and easier to prepare delicious healthy recipes that help our organism.

THE USE OF AGAR IN COSMETIC PRODUCTS

The beneficial properties of algae for the skin have been known for centuries, but to see their application in industrial production we had to wait until France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was there that the first laboratories specialized in the research and development of cosmetic products began.

The first products made from algae were soaps, shaving creams, shampoos, dyes, lipsticks, tonics, make-up, foams and a wide variety of bath products. Their success was almost immediate and their demand grew. They were beneficial because of their high content of trace elements, mineral salts, vitamins and amino acids that help to maintain the good appearance of the skin, as they are directly assimilated by the skin cells.

The most common forms of application are gels, masks, emulsions, shampoos, lotions and creams, and among its many uses are toning, moisturizing, rejuvenating and anti-cellulite treatments.

Nowadays, in the composition of cosmetic products, not only algae are used, but also products derived from them, such as agar-agar. It is one of the most common elements due to its suspensive, emulsifying, stabilizing and gelling properties that avoid incorporating fat to the product, a very important characteristic when developing products for the skin. In addition, it is non-toxic and non-irritating, which is essential for people with skin problems.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AGAR POWDER, STRIPS AND FLAKES

Food agar can be distributed in different formats and, although the most common is agar powder, we can also find agar in strips and powder on the market.

When agar is presented in powder and flakes, these contain a greater amount of fiber, since the agar is more concentrated. It is very common to find it in kitchens, since it does not need previous hydration.

One of the factors to take into account, especially between the powder and the flakes, is the time of cooking, since the flakes need up to 15 minutes, whereas the powder needs only 2.

As for the strips, it is more common to use them in salads, although it requires a previous elaboration, such as adding to soak for half an hour before using them.

If you have any questions about the use of agar, our customer service department will be happy to help you.

Agar is the healthiest hydrocolloid on the market

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Agar is the healthiest hydrocolloid on the market

Let’s begin with a short explanation of what hydrocolloids are. Hydrocolloids are a large family of polysaccharides and proteins that dissolve in water as colloids and are highly prone to forming gels. Thanks to these properties, they have a wide variety of applications. They help to texturize, thicken, bind, emulsify, stabilize, form foam, films, gel, thin and increase adherence. Due to all these applications, they can be found in countless ways in our daily life.

There is a wide range of hydrocolloids: Guar rubber, Konjac, gelatin, starch, agar, alginates, carrageenans… They are of animal origin, such as gelatin, from fruit, such as pectin, from algae, such as agar or manufactured from plants, such as xanthan gum. 

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Of all the range of hydrocolloids on the market, agar is the healthiest. Traditionally, in traditional Asian medicine, it has been recognized as having various properties. Agar is moisturizing, easily digestible, satiating, regulates the intestinal transit, provides minerals, contains less than 0.2% fat, decreases cholesterol absorption and sugar and flushes out toxic residues. Finally, it is the main vegan and natural alternative to animal-based gelatin. At Agarmex we have a wide range of bacteriological agars adapted to any of your needs.

Category: Food Agar

Did you know that agar is used in diagnostic tests?

Did you know that agar is used in diagnostic tests?

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Thanks to agar and peptones, nowadays, it is possible to diagnose a large number of diseases. These are, for example, respiratory, digestive tract or urinary diseases. Some of them have effective treatments and others are of concern to the WHO because of their resistance to antibiotics. Therefore, rapid diagnosis using agar is essential. 

Practically everyone has been diagnosed using agar. In the case of a patient going to a medical center with symptoms of a disease caused by bacteria, a sample shall be taken and inoculated into a suitable medium to encourage the multiplication of the microorganisms. What is the purpose of this process? To see if the disease-causing bacteria is present in the sample.

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This medium is solid or liquid agar, enriched with peptones or other different substances (sugars, hydrates…) that promote the growth of the bacteria to be diagnosed. In this way, within a few hours, the medical center’s laboratory will be able to know whether the disease is related to a bacterial infection, and shall prescribe the appropriate treatment for each specific case. 

But the uses of agar do not end here. Thanks to the agar culture media, it is possible to carry out tests with different antibiotics and thus analyze their effectiveness to fight against specific diseases. In this way, by the time the treatment reaches the patient, it is possible to known its effectiveness and which is the most suitable for each specific case. 

At Agarmex we have a wide range of bacteriological agar with the highest quality. 

Category: Bacto Agar

Differences between Gelidium and Gracilaria alga agars

Differences between Gelidium and Gracilaria alga agars

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Agar-agar comes from different sea vegetables, usually from algae. The most commonly used algae for its production are red Agarophyte algae. There are several species of these algae, but there are two in particular that stand out for their high agar-agar content: Gelidium and Gracilaria. Both produce agar with different features, as seen below. 

But to understand the use of these two species, it is necessary to learn a bit of history. Agar was first used in Japan in the 17th century from Gelidium algae (Tengusa in Japanese). At the end of the 19th century, the increase in world consumption made it necessary to find other agar sources. Thus, the Gracilaria species started to be used, although the agar-agar obtained had different characteristics. 

The main difference is its purity. Agar-agar obtained from Gelidium is considered to be of higher quality and, therefore, better raw material.  

On the other hand, the process for obtaining agar-agar is different for each species. Gelidium algae agar does not need to undergo any chemical transformation during the harvesting process, while agar produced from Gracilaria needs a strong alkaline chemical treatment in order to enhance its gelling effect.

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There are also differences in their origin. When Gracilaria algae were first used, they were found naturally in coastal areas of Argentina, Chile, Indonesia and Namibia. Cultivation methods were developed to meet the growing demand for these algae, both in ponds and in the open waters of protected bays. These methods have spread from Chile to other countries such as China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Namibia, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam. Gelidium algae only come from natural beds, mainly from Spain, France, Indonesia, Morocco, Mexico, Portugal and the Republic of Korea. On the other hand, unlike Gracilaria algae, which grows easily and has several annual harvests, the Gelidium algae is a small, slow-growing plant with a single annual harvest. Although efforts have been made to cultivate them in tanks and ponds, this was only possible from a biological point of view, because the lack of rocky bottoms and open sea prevents implementing large-scale Gelidium crops in the ocean

Regarding applications, the biggest advantage of  Gelidium or Gracilaria agar is its gel point (the temperature at which it turns into a gel). Gelidium agar gels at a lower temperature, which is essential for microbiology applications. Also, Gelidium is the only species that can guarantee a bacteriological agar, as it grows in natural open beds and lacks growth inhibitors. These differences are not as essential in the food industry. 

Agarmex has a wide range of products from the Gelidium and Gracilaria algae available for food applications, adapting to consumer requirements. Prioritizing the quality of its products, uses exclusively Gelidium algae for all its bacteriological agars. 

Category: Food Agar, Bacto Agar