Novel Solidifying and Gelling Agents-Source, Properties and Prospective Application

Some microbial and plant origin proteins and colloidal polysaccharides act as solidifiers or stabilizers for solid or semi solid media preparation. They form a continuous three dimensional molecular network and provide firmness to the culture medium. Gelatin and agar agar are widely employed as solidified agents in the preparation of microbiological media. However, few bacteria and fungi are able to degrade these complex compounds and thus, there is a need of alternative solidifying agents. Current text discusses development of newly discovered gelling agents, their source and properties, and prospective application as solidifying agent in the microbiological media preparation.