Effect of sugars and polyols on water in agarose gels.

Effects of ribose, glucose, sucrose, ethylene glycol, glycerin, propylene glycol, and sorbitol on water in concentrated agarose gels were studied by differential scanning calorimetry at low temperatures. Changes in the phase transition temperatures of 40% agarose gels, induced by the addition of these chemical reagents, are discussed, together with rheological and thermal data for the same systems at ambient and higher temperatures. Both sugars and polyols are believed to reduce the amount of freezable water and to promote plasticization and molecular mobility of agarose chains in gels, thus shifting the glass transition temperatures to lower temperatures. However, the effects of decreasing freezable water, and the direct effect on the junction zones, produced by sugars seem to be different from the effects produced by polyols.