Agar Agar is used as 100% vegetarian substitute for Gelatin (manufactured from animal bones and skin) in the food industry. The usage is fast gaining ground due to the worldwide shift for products of vegetable origin. Agar Agar has been used for many centuries as high performance gelling agent.
Its ability to produce clear colourless, odourless, and natural gels without the support of other colloids has long been exploited by the food industry as a stabilizing and gelling agent. Agar Agar gels at 34°C to 42°C and melts at 80°C to 98°C. This unmatched natural hysteresis offers a definite advantage particularly with regard to the shelf life of food preparations.
Agar can also be used as a coagulator; thickening agent, emulsifier and stabilizer in the manufacture of confectionaries like gums, caramels, marshmallows etc.