Is the Prepared Nutrient Agar in Disposable Sterile Plates poisonous?
No. Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed. Among other things it is used as a vegetarian gelatin substitute. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar_plate Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed. Historically and in a modern context, it is chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Japan, but in the past century has found extensive use as a solid substrate to contain culture medium for microbiological work. The gelling agent is an unbranched polysaccharide obtained from the cell membranes of some species of red algae, primarily from the genera Gelidium and Gracilaria, or seaweed (Sphaerococcus euchema). Commercially it is derived primarily from Gelidium amansii. Agar (agar agar) can be used as a laxative, a vegetarian gelatin substitute, a thickener for soups, in jell
