AGAR AND RELATED PHYCOCOLLOIDS 77 



Table 18. Uses of Agar in Australia, 1938.* 



Pounds 



160,255 



South Africa. During World War II several species of seaweeds were investi- 

 gated as possible agar sources in the Union of South Africa. Although Gelidium 

 cartilagineum is present, Gracilaria confervoides was the principal species utilized 

 because of its greater abundance and ease of collection. Agar from Gracilaria, col- 

 lected in a certain area in South Africa, has the same value as Gelidium agar for 

 use in culture media because it gels at 35° to 37° C (95° to 98° F) and has a high 

 gel strength and a relatively low viscosity in liquid condition. Gracilaria from other 

 areas in South Africa yields agar similar in properties to that from Australian and 

 North CaroUna Gracilaria (i.e., with a higher temperature of gelation). South 

 Africa's agar production of about 25 tons per year through 1949 is based upon 

 Gracilaria raw material having these favorable properties. Plans for 1950 called 

 for a doubling of production with full utilization of the freezing capacity of South 

 Africa's factory. Vitamin Oils Limited, located at Cape Town.f 



Although Gelidium pristoides is abundant in South Africa, it produces an ex- 

 tractive of somewhat lower gel strength than agar of commerce. Agaroids have 

 been prepared on a small scale from Suhria vittata and Gigartina radula, but an 

 agaroid industry has not been established. Hypnea spicifera from the vicinity of 

 East London, South Africa is reported to be a good source of agar (Fox and 

 Stephens, 1943), but no information is available concerning its properties or 

 whether it behaves in a manner similar to H. musciformis of the Atlantic Coast 

 of North and South America. 



Other Countries. A small agar industry of at least three factories existed in 

 China prior to the Japanese invasion in 1937. Factories were located at Ningpo, 

 Tsingtao, and Chefoo. Although production data were not published, Tseng 

 (1944a) estimated their annual output at about 75,000 pounds. More recent in- 

 formation on these factories is not available. 



Mexico, an important source of raw material for California factories during the 

 war because of the lower cost of labor, began in about 1945 to produce agar 

 from Gelidium cartilagineum, collected in Baja California. Agar production has 

 also been reported in the Dutch East Indies and Straits Settlements. 



Agars from Pterocladia, Gracilaria, Ahnfeltia, and other species which have 

 come to be utilized since the beginning of World War II have been said to be 

 superior to Japanese agar, often without indicating in what respect they are 



* Wood, E. J. F., "Agar in Australia," Council for Sci. and Indus. Research, Rulletin 203 

 (Div. of Fisheries Report No. 12) (1946). 



f Information on South Africa's agar industry was supplied through the kindness of 

 Dr. C. J. Molteno, Managing Director of Vitamin Oils Limited, Cape Town. 



