Agar Agar as a culture media is widely used for practically all pathogenic and non pathogenic bacteria and fungi as agar agar does not inhibit the growth of the above organisms and it’s gel has good firmness, elasticity, clarity and stability.
Agar Agar can be produced without presence of bacteria/fungi easily. At the same time it does not inhibit the growth of these organisms. Hence Agar Agar culture media is widely used for practically all pathogenic and non pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Also Agar Agar gel has good firmness, elasticity, clarity and stability.
Agar Agar is the most commonly used gelling agent for preparing semi solid and solid plant tissue culture medium. Agar Agar has several advantages over other gelling agents. First when Agar Agar is mixed with water, it forms a gel that melts at approximately 80 - 100°C and solidify approximately at 40°C. Thus Agar Agarare stable at all feasible incubation temperatures. Additionally Agar Gel do not react with media constituents and are not diggested by plant enzymes. The firmness of the Agar Gel is controlled by the concentration and brand of Agar used in culture medium and the pH of medium. The Agar concentrations commonly used in plant cell culture media range between 0.5 to 1.0%. These concentrations give a firm gel at the pH typical of plant cell culture media.
PARAMETERS |
GRADES |
|||
Grades |
STANDARD |
SUPERFINE |
SPECIAL |
|
Clarity |
CLEAR |
CLEAR |
CLEAR |
|
Moisture |
15% MAX |
15% MAX |
15% MAX |
|
Ph |
6.0 - 7.5 |
6.0 -7.5 |
6.0 - 7.5 |
|
Ash |
<3% Max |
<3% Max |
<3% Max |
|
Gel Strength |
700-750 gm/cm² |
750-800 gm/cm² |
800-850 gm/cm² |
|
Gelling Temp. |
35 - 41°C |
35 - 41°C |
35 - 41°C |
|
Melting Temp. |
90 -97°C |
90 - 97°C |
90 - 97°C |
|
Swelling Index |
≥ 9 ML |
≥ 9 ML |
≥ 9 ML |
|
Water Absorption |
<75 ML |
<75 ML |
<75 ML |
|
Gelatin |
PASSES TEST |
PASSES TEST |
PASSES TEST |
|
Extraneous Matter |
< 0.5% |
< 0.5% |
<0.5% |
|
Starch |
NIL |
NIL |
NIL |
|
Acid Insoluble Ash |
< 1.0% |
<1.0% |
<0.5% |
|
Total Heavy Metals |
< 10 ppm |
< 10 ppm |
< 10 ppm |
|
Lead (AS pb) |
< 5 ppm |
< 5 ppm |
< 5 ppm |
|
Arsenic (AS As) |
< 3 ppm |
< 3 ppm |
< 3 ppm |
|
Mercury |
< 1 ppm |
< 1 ppm |
< 1 ppm |
|
Cadmium |
< 1 ppm |
< 1 ppm |
< 1 ppm |
|
TOTAL COLONY COUNT |
<1000 CFU/GM |
<1000 CFU/GM |
<1000 CFU/GM |
|
SALMONELLA |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
|
E.COLI |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
|
Caliform Bacteria |
Absent |
<Absent |
<Absent |
|
MOLD |
<100 |
<100 |
< 100 |
|
YEAST |
<100 |
<100 |
< 100 |
|
