Seaweed polysaccharides: structure and applications

VANINA A. COSENZA; DIEGO A. NAVARRO; NORA M.A. PONCE; CARLOS A. STORTZ

Industrial applications of renewable biomass products: past, present and future

Springer

Año: 2017;

Seaweeds produce polysaccharides usually as storage products and as part of theircell walls (Graham and Wilcox 2000). Within the latter, these macromolecules arefound both in the fibrillar wall and the intercellular matrix, generally together withother biopolymers. Polysaccharides of industrial and biomedical relevance havebeen isolated from red seaweeds or Rhodophyta (carrageenans, agarans, etc.),brown seaweeds or Phaeophyta (alginates, fucoidans, etc.), and some green seaweeds, within the Chlorophyta (ulvans, among others). Each of these polysaccharides has a defined chemical structure, which may vary between species, life stages,season of harvest, habitat, and even extraction procedures (Pomin 2011; Synytsyaet al. 2015). Furthermore, they are generally available in large quantities fromrenewable sources, are nontoxic, and carry rheological and/or biological properties,which render them useful for a large variety of applications.This chapter includes an updated presentation of the structure and properties ofthe polysaccharides from seaweeds, focusing on those with known or potentialindustrial and biomedical applications as well as biological activities.