AGAR

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What is AGAR?

Agar, scientific name Qiongjiao, English name Agar, also known as Yangcai, frozen powder, Yancai essence, Yangfen, and Hantian. Agar has a unique and extremely useful property in the application of the food industry. Its characteristics include coagulation, stability, and the ability to form complexes with certain substances. It can be used as a thickener, coagulant, suspension agent, emulsifier, preservative, and stabilizer. It is widely used in manufacturing granular orange and various drinks, jellies, ice cream, cakes, soft sweets, cans, meat products, Babao Congee, tremella and bird's nest, soup food, cold food, etc. Agar is used in the chemical industry, medical research, as a culture medium, ointment base, and other applications.

Raw Materials and Production Processes

The products of the company are extracted from red algae such as domestic and foreign high-quality cauliflower, gracilaria, gracilaria lemaneiformis, etc. The production management has always strictly implemented the GB1975-2010 food safety management system. The products include agar powder, agar strip, agar stick, etc. The strength of gel can be adjusted according to needs.

Production Line Display

Product Specifications and Advantages

Changde agar powder is seaweed gel extracted from red algae plants such as Gracilaria and Gracilaria. Agar has a long history in China. Because of its special gel properties, it has been widely used in medicine, food, chemicals, textiles, national defense, biological research and other fields, and is internationally known as "novel East Asian products". Agar powder is composed of agarose and agarose pectin. Its characteristics are insoluble in cold water, soluble in boiling water, and slowly soluble in hot water.

The Products We Can Offer

Agar Stick

Agar Strip

Agar Powder

Industry Guide

Food industry (the most widely used field)

Agar is mainly used as gel agent, stabilizer and thickener in food. It is numbered E406 in the national standard.

Candy, jelly, and lamb soup

Application principle: use its strong gel and crisp taste.
• Typical formula: Fruit jelly
• Water: 1000 grams
• Sugar: 120-150 grams
• Agar: 8-12 grams (usually mixed with a small amount of carrageenan to improve elasticity)
• Juice/fruit pulp: moderate amount
• Acid flavor agent (citric acid): about 1g (note: it must be added after the agar is completely dissolved and cooled to below 70 ℃, otherwise the acidity will damage the strength of the agar gel)
• Essence and pigment: proper amount
• Process flow: Agar soaking → Heating dissolution → Adding sugar → Mixing juice → Cooling to below 70 ℃ and adding acid → Filling → Cooling and solidifying.

Daily chemical and pharmaceutical industry

Cosmetics

Application principle: natural gelling agent and stabilizer, used to make wash free facial mask, gel cream, shaving cream, etc.
• Typical formula: transparent moisturizing gel facial mask
• Deionized water: remaining amount
• Glycerol (moisturizer): 5-10 grams
• Agar: 1-2 grams
• Carbopol (thickening synergy): 0.2-0.5 grams
• Preservatives, effective ingredients, essence: moderate
• Triethanolamine (neutralizing carbomer): appropriate amount
• Process flow: Soak agar and carbomer in water respectively → heat and dissolve agar and stir to make carbomer swell → add other aqueous components after cooling down → neutralize with triethanolamine to transparent gel shape.

FAQ

What is the source of your agar? (For example: Gracilaria, Caryophylla, Gracilaria?)

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We mainly supply agar made from Gracilaria and Caryophyllum as raw materials. Gracilaria agar has a high yield and cost-effectiveness, making it suitable for most food and industrial applications; The strength and transparency of the gel of cauliflower agar are better, and it is suitable for high-end food and microbial culture media with higher quality requirements. We can recommend the most economical and efficient types of raw materials based on your specific application.

What is the gel strength of agar? What units are usually used to represent?

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The strength of gel is the core index of our products, and the unit is g/cm2. It usually refers to the maximum weight of gel formed at 1.5% concentration and 20 ℃, whose surface can withstand without puncture under standard conditions. We offer products of different strength levels, such as:
• Low strength: 300-500 g/cm ² (suitable for foods that require a soft texture, such as pudding)
• Medium strength: 600-800 g/cm ² (universal grade, suitable for jelly, candy, dairy products)
• High strength: 900-1200 g/cm ² or higher (suitable for microbial culture media, high-end lamb soup, special industrial applications)
• (Please provide specific range based on actual product parameters)

What is the solution temperature and gel temperature of the product?

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These are the key process parameters for agar.
• Dissolving temperature: It needs to be heated to 90-100 ℃ and maintained for several minutes to fully dissolve in water.
• Gel temperature: gel is formed when the solution is cooled to 35-42 ℃. This "temperature lag" (that is, the sol temperature is much higher than the gel temperature) is its unique advantage, which makes it stable at room temperature.
• (Note: The specific temperature point may vary slightly depending on the product model and solution system, and we will provide a product specific data sheet (TDS).

What is the minimum order quantity (MOQ)? How about the price?

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• MOQ: For standard products, our bagged MOQ is usually 500 kilograms. For customized specifications or high-purity agarose, the MOQ may be higher.
• Price: The price is affected by many factors, including the strength grade of gel, source of raw materials, purity (food grade/medium grade/agarose), purchase quantity, packaging specification, and international freight/exchange rate fluctuations. For example, the price of high-strength cauliflower agar is usually higher than that of ordinary Gracilaria agar. Please let us know your specific needs and applications, and we will provide you with the most competitive quotation.

How to Choose Agar (Buying Guide)

If transparent jelly is needed

• Choose high transparency cauliflower agar
• Gel strength 800-1000 g/cm²
• Be careful to avoid excessive stirring and introducing bubbles

If a suspended beverage is needed

• Choose medium strength (600-800 g/cm ²)
• Test stability at target pH
• The usual dosage is only 0.1-0.3%

If microbial cultivation is required

• Must select 'medium grade' agar
• Pay attention to low impurity and low growth inhibition characteristics
• Request suppliers to provide microbial growth test data

If electrophoresis agarose is required

• Clearly identify the electrophoresis type (nucleic acid/protein)
• Choose the appropriate electroosmotic grade
• Consider gel strength and melting point