Carboxyl groups have an electronegative oxygen atom double bonded to a carbon atom. This carbon-oxygen bond is very polar and the fact that its a double bond increases the polarity of the bond.
PEA agar, also referred to as Phenylethyl Alcohol Agar is a medium  used by microbiologists to grow microorganisms. The ingredient that  supplies nitrogen is casein. Making the world better, one answer at a time.
Like our ancient ancestors, modern farmers plant legumes to in effect grow a type of nitrogen rich fertilizer for their other crops. It isn't the peas and beans that are making the fertilizer though, it's the nitrogen fixing bacteria, various Rhizobium, that actually do the nitrogen fixing. These bacteria colonize the roots of their preferred plant partner.