Food Applications of Agar

The bakery industry has been the largest user  of agar because of its heat- resistant gel properties. Confectionary products, such as agar jelly candies, marsh mallows and sweet potato-sugar-agar confections employ agar at  0.3 to 1.8% to give the desired technical effects. Agar is also used in the manufacture of canned meat, fish and poultry products to prevent damage to the contents during transit and storage. In dairy products, such as Neufchatel process cheese, cream cheese and fermented milk products improved textures and stability are obtained with the use of agar. Superiority of Agar over gelatin have been described in the fining of wines, juices and vinegar. Difficulties encountered in clarifying fruit wines by traditional method were overcome by using a 0.5% solution of agar or a 1% of solution of sodium alginate.