Agar Agar Powder is an ingredient used in the preparation of Nutrient Plates (Learn more in Blog “Working with Agar“). It is a gelatinous substance obtained from red seaweed and used in biological culture media and as a thickener in food. This is a Gluten-free food grade powder form.
For Petri Dish Agar media use 16 g per litre water [2 Tablespoons].
NOTE: Agar Agar has trouble setting in acidic solutions – such as PDA, or even LME. For these nutrient solutions use two and half teaspoons [20g] Agar Agar Powder. For this reason we add literally a pinch Calcium Carbonate to media, while cooking/heating to dissolve Agar and selected nutrients, to raise pH and neutralize acids. Calcium Carbonate has a low solubility and high density so can easily be separated as most will remain behind in pot when transferring Media to the Autoclaving/Sterilizing Containers.
Agar Media Recipes:
There are many recipes and can read more on blog – “Working with Agar“. There is also a reference “Fast Fred’s Cookbook” – is over 30 years old, but most of the Recipes listed there. From experience almost anything can be used from Molasses to Marmite, and Dogfood to Dextrose, but keep the following limits in mind:
- Limit Sugars [like Dextrose or Glucose] to less than 2%, i.e. 20g per litre water.
- Limit Proteins [like Peptone or Yeast Extract] to less than 0.5%, i.e. 5g per litre water.
Looking for a plug-and-play solution? If you don’t want to weigh out individual agar and sugar ratios from scratch, check out our proprietary XA-Midnight Rhizomorphic Induction Agar (RIA) Premix for high-contrast, black-mirror plates engineered specifically to lock down elite rhizomorphic mycelium.
Agar trivia:
Agar is called “agar-agar” because the name originates from the Malay word for red algae or the jelly produced from it. The term is a duplication, as is common in the Malay language for emphasis, and it signifies “jelly” or “gelatin”.
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