PROPERTIES

Sulfate content – used as an indicator of purity, since sulfate is the major ionic group present.

Gel strength – the force that must be applied to a gel to cause it to fracture.

Gelling temperature- the temperature at which an aqueous agarose solution forms a gel as it cools.

Agarose solutions exhibit hysteresis in the liquid-to-gel transition – that is, their gel point is not the same as their melting temperature. Electroendosmosis (EEO) – a movement of liquid through the gel. Anionic groups in an agarose gel are affixed to the matrix and cannot move, but disso- ciable counter cations can migrate toward the cathode in the matrix, giving rise to EEO. Since electrophoretic movement of biopolymers is usually toward

the anode, EEO can disrupt separations because of internal convection.

CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CONTROL:

Appearance.......fine, homogeneous powder 

Color..................white

Particle Size

 A.S.T.M

Over sieve-60       0.20%

Over sieve-100   10.40% 

Over sieve-140   36.50% 

Over sieve-200   26.05% 

Under sieve-200 27.30%

Moisture               4.74% 

Ashes                   0.31%

Electroendosmosis    0.12 

Sulfate                   0.095%

CONCENTRATION

                                                1.0%             1.5%

Clarity (NTU)                                                 2.96 

pH in solution                                               6.68 

pH in gel                                                       6.95

COLORIMETRY 

n m u 450                                                    0.022

Gel strength                         1295g/cm2 3100g/cm2 

Gelling Temperature                                     36.3°C

Melting Temperature                                    88.5°C