Description
Tissue culture agar is a purified, low-impurity bacteriological-grade gelling agent used to solidify plant growth media. The gelling strength and clarity of TC agar directly affects explant health — impure or food-grade agar releases inhibitory phenolic compounds on autoclaving, causes browning of sensitive explants, and produces cloudy medium that makes early contamination harder to detect.
Standard working concentration is 6–8 g/L. Use 6–6.5 g/L for callus induction and embryogenic suspension cultures where a softer, more pliable gel is preferred. Use 7–8 g/L for shoot multiplication and rooting stages where a firmer medium prevents shoot bases from sinking and maintaining contact with a contamination reservoir. Agar gelling is pH-sensitive: always adjust medium to pH 5.7–5.8 before autoclaving; gels that are too acidic (below pH 5.0) will not set firmly, and those above pH 6.0 will set before pouring is complete.
Autoclave at 121 °C, 15 psi for 15–20 minutes. Agar is stable across normal autoclaving cycles. Cool medium to 55–60 °C before pouring into culture vessels; pouring at higher temperatures causes excessive condensation on vessel lids, which increases contamination risk. Each 500 g unit yields approximately 65–80 litres of prepared medium depending on concentration used.
Supplied by Phyto Evolution
- TC/bacteriological grade — low impurity, low phenolic release
- Gel strength ≥900 g/cm² (1.5% solution)
- 500 g and 1 kg units available
- Compatible with all standard basal media formulations (MS, WPM, B5, Knudson C)
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.