Qualification of Powdered Gelatin Agar by NIR Spectroscopy

Agar is a mixture of polysaccharides widely used in food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries for its jelly-like structure. Among a variety of purposes, it can be used as a solid substrate for culture media, as a laxative, as a substituent to gelatin, or as a preservative for fruit. As it is obtained from different species of red algae, its quality can vary. The objective of this feasibility is to determine if NIR spectroscopy can be used to identify optimal and sub-optimal lots of powdered gelatin agar.