Agarose is a fraction extracted from agar-producing seaweeds and it is mainly responsible for the agar’s gelling power.

It exhibits a high hysteresis (the difference between melting and gelling temperatures) making it ideal for separations such as electrophoresis and chromatography within the fields of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Specifically, the gelling temperature range is 32 - 45°C and the melting temperature range is normally 80 - 95°C, although these can be modified when preparing products for specific uses.

Agarose ins a natural product that forms an inert matrix used in Electrophoresis, Chromatography and other Molecular Biology and Biochemistry techniques. Likewise, it is neutral and easily derivatizable, so it is easy to bind to its structure proteins like enzymes, antigens or antibodies. Toxicity absence makes working with agarose very convenient.

Nowadays agarose is an essential tool in nucleic acid separation in Genetic Engineering, Cell Culture and Microbiology.

The structure of the polysaccharide is a galactan, formed by linking agarobioses 1-3, 1-4, as shown in the illustration. This chemical structure gives agarose the capacity to form gels that are very resistant even at low concentrations.

The macroreticule of the agarose gel is formed by hydrogen bonds, which makes the gel thermo-reversible, thus it melts after heating. The hysteresis – difference between gelling and melting temperature – is greater than for any other hydrocolloid. In addition, the absence of ionic groups makes the gel a neutral structure, thus there is no interaction with hydrophilic macromolecules which migrate through the gel mesh. The gel is an efficient sieve for these particles.