160
7 Agar
role to play in the preparation of foam-based food as a food ingredient stabilizer and
also providing a healthier option to fat-based foams.
7.7.2 Tissue Mimicry
The ability to either test products or procedures on artificial tissue saves much time
and cost in the sciences and medical research and training. Use of real tissue for
in vitro studies often requires freshly excised tissue and/or constant refrigeration and
freezing of the tissue for preservation. For example, where porcine skin is used in
transdermal studies, the neonatal porcine obtained from the abattoir once slaughtered
are stored in the freezer until required. In less developed regions where electricity is
limited and access to fresh cadaver or animal models is more challenging, artificial
tissue systems are required for either training, research or product in vitro testing
and trials. Gelatine is commonly used in tissue mimetics, for example, as artificial
skin for friction testing (Dabrowska et al. 2017). In mimicking tissue for ultrasound
procedure training, gelatine gel used requires refrigeration and this poses a challenge
in less developed region. Agar can retain its gel structure at room temperature without
need for refrigeration and also has a longer period before spoilage since agar is
particularly more resistant to bacterial infection (Kwon et al. 2019), thus making
it more suitable as a tissue model without need for refrigeration. Agar-based tissue
models have been tested for use in training of ultrasound medical imaging procedure.
Agar concentration at 7.5–10% mixed with flour can serve as effective tissue models
for training of medical practitioners in the use of ultrasound tissue imaging (Earle
et al. 2016).
Access to cost-effective training of medical professionals has significant economic impacts, particularly in regions where resources such as electricity are scarce.
Such low-cost training materials ensure the development of technical capacity to use
advanced medical facilities such as ultrasound which could significantly improve
the quality of health care rendered to the community. The quality of health in turn
affects the economic activities such as farming and education. Furthermore, trials
and training carried out on real animal or human tissue might violate some ethics
and religious beliefs. Therefore, a plant-based tissue mimetic is often preferred over
real animal or human tissue and is also a step better than the animal-based gelatin
where a tissue model completely free of animal use is required.
7.7.3 Biotechnology
The ability to form a strong gel and serve as a moist, relatively unreactive and clear gel
environment, makes agar applicable in several aspects of biology and biotechnology.
In the biology, agar, particularly agarose, is very commonly used in preparation of
culture media for microorganisms. It can be easily prepared from the powdered form
7 Agar
role to play in the preparation of foam-based food as a food ingredient stabilizer and
also providing a healthier option to fat-based foams.
7.7.2 Tissue Mimicry
The ability to either test products or procedures on artificial tissue saves much time
and cost in the sciences and medical research and training. Use of real tissue for
in vitro studies often requires freshly excised tissue and/or constant refrigeration and
freezing of the tissue for preservation. For example, where porcine skin is used in
transdermal studies, the neonatal porcine obtained from the abattoir once slaughtered
are stored in the freezer until required. In less developed regions where electricity is
limited and access to fresh cadaver or animal models is more challenging, artificial
tissue systems are required for either training, research or product in vitro testing
and trials. Gelatine is commonly used in tissue mimetics, for example, as artificial
skin for friction testing (Dabrowska et al. 2017). In mimicking tissue for ultrasound
procedure training, gelatine gel used requires refrigeration and this poses a challenge
in less developed region. Agar can retain its gel structure at room temperature without
need for refrigeration and also has a longer period before spoilage since agar is
particularly more resistant to bacterial infection (Kwon et al. 2019), thus making
it more suitable as a tissue model without need for refrigeration. Agar-based tissue
models have been tested for use in training of ultrasound medical imaging procedure.
Agar concentration at 7.5–10% mixed with flour can serve as effective tissue models
for training of medical practitioners in the use of ultrasound tissue imaging (Earle
et al. 2016).
Access to cost-effective training of medical professionals has significant economic impacts, particularly in regions where resources such as electricity are scarce.
Such low-cost training materials ensure the development of technical capacity to use
advanced medical facilities such as ultrasound which could significantly improve
the quality of health care rendered to the community. The quality of health in turn
affects the economic activities such as farming and education. Furthermore, trials
and training carried out on real animal or human tissue might violate some ethics
and religious beliefs. Therefore, a plant-based tissue mimetic is often preferred over
real animal or human tissue and is also a step better than the animal-based gelatin
where a tissue model completely free of animal use is required.
7.7.3 Biotechnology
The ability to form a strong gel and serve as a moist, relatively unreactive and clear gel
environment, makes agar applicable in several aspects of biology and biotechnology.
In the biology, agar, particularly agarose, is very commonly used in preparation of
culture media for microorganisms. It can be easily prepared from the powdered form