About Agar
About Agar
Qindao Kanten ® is the trade name of refined agar produced by Libangda.
Qiongzhi, known as Agar and called Kanten in Japan. It is a kind of polysaccharide extracted from red algae such as gelidium and gracilaria, is one of most widely used algae colloids. In China, at very beginning, it is made by Hainan province (shorted as Qiong) origin gelidium, therefore, it is called Qiongzhi in China.
In China and Japan, it has been several hundred years of edible history. It appeared at first in form of Jelly-like block which is still available nowadays. Before World War II, agar as farmer families’ sideline only can be handmade in cold winter days in forms of linear and square. Between World War II and after that, Western countries began to industrialize the production of agar powder. Powder agar was initially used as bacteria culture, later extended to food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries etc. Agar has unique gel performance and gel stability, which has a wide range of applications in food industry, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and biological engineering industries etc.
Application Properties
Diversity of agar is mainly caused by different raw materials and processing technology. Agar blends are also of different physical and chemical properties because of different blends.
Qindao Kanten® agar, with well selected raw materials and optimized combination extraction process, characteristic of each type is more prominent.
Qindao Kanten® agar, with the properties of thickening, gelling, suspension and stability as well as superior flavor release ability, is widely used in various food products.
Thickening
The reason that agar can be as a thickener is that it will form weak gelling at low concentration, which is of good thickening ability and fluidity, also it shows good thixotropy, there is no paste feeling for agar solution.
Added in drinks, it has a clear mouth-feel with original taste complete retained。 Comparatively, there are some gums, such as CMC, guar gum, xanthan gum, as a thickener added in drinks will cause sticky and rough mouth-feel.
Gelling
Agar is a natural polysaccharide, it is almost neutral. Different raw materials lead to different properties, such as hard, brittle, soft, elastic texture etc, it is not effected by cation and can form very stable gel, this point is different from carrageenan and pectin.
Agar solution usually forms gel at 35-40 ℃ but melt until at 85-95℃. Many application advantages are caused by this high hysteresis property.
With a high melting point, agar can keep solid form easily at room temperature and will not make sticky mold, so it is convenient to be used.
Suspension and Stability
Agar forms weak three-dimension structure at low concentration, they can avoid water insoluble substance precipitation, so agar can be used a stabilizer in fresh drinks preparation.
Water Keeping
Agar has a very good water holding capacity, it can absorb itself 200 times water which can make fillings or cakes of smoothness and good texture.
Safety
Safety
● More than one thousand years ago, cooking gelidium for gel as food has appeared in our country and later spread to Japan. In China coastal areas, there is long history to eat some seaweeds such as gracilaria directly as salads
● The raw material of Qindao Kanten® agar from red algae (Gracilaria and Gelidium) is cultivated in non-polluted coast area and is GMO free. The production process has been under strict control, using food-grade additives without any non food grade component.
● Agar has a more than 400 years history to eat directly. Its dietary fiber content is above 80%。
● Agar is a kind of daily food in Japan and is regarded as of richest dietary fiber.
● Agar has been listed as GRAS (General Recognized As Safe) by FDA for many years and approved as a food additive listed in FCC.
● The ADI of Agar has been listed in A1 group by FAO/WHO that means no limit on daily intake.
● In the regulation of GB2760-2011 of China, agar can be used in every food with certain volume as production requests.
● The raw material of Qindao Kanten® agar from red algae (Gracilaria and Gelidium) is cultivated in non-polluted coast area and is GMO free. The production process has been under strict control, using food-grade additives without any non food grade component.
● Agar has a more than 400 years history to eat directly. Its dietary fiber content is above 80%。
● Agar is a kind of daily food in Japan and is regarded as of richest dietary fiber.
● Agar has been listed as GRAS (General Recognized As Safe) by FDA for many years and approved as a food additive listed in FCC.
● The ADI of Agar has been listed in A1 group by FAO/WHO that means no limit on daily intake.
● In the regulation of GB2760-2011 of China, agar can be used in every food with certain volume as production requests.
Nutrition Function
Nutrition Function
With rich dietary fiber and health function, agar is very popular in Japan, Taiwan, USA, Southeast Asia etc. In China, as people know more about agar and be aware of healthiness, agar foods also will be popular soon.
Agar is extracted from cell walls of red algae. It is low-calorie and high in dietary fiber. Because of its high nutritional value, Agar became favorite dietary fiber and health food in Japan for over than 350 years. With deeper study on the dietary fiber, agar’s functions are much clear.
Dietary fiber is a kind of edible plant component, which cannot be degraded by endogenous enzyme of body. It also cannot be digested in small intestines but can be partly or completely fermented in large intestines. It has many physiological functions such as relieving constipation with laxatives; balancing blood sugar; decreasing blood lipid. It has been focused by more and more people.
In 1992, Japan Science and Technology Agency issued a list of 227 kinds of food which can be sources of dietary fiber. In which agar is the one with highest content. When Ministry of Health of Japan testing the function of dietary fiber using agar jelly and agar powder, they found agar has the function of “difficult to be digested and help relieving constipation”. They confirmed this function and appointed it as specified health food with dietary fiber.
In 1992, Japan Science and Technology Agency issued a list of 227 kinds of food which can be sources of dietary fiber. In which agar is the one with highest content. When Ministry of Health of Japan testing the function of dietary fiber using agar jelly and agar powder, they found agar has the function of “difficult to be digested and help relieving constipation”. They confirmed this function and appointed it as specified health food with dietary fiber.
