Seaweed polysaccharides: structure and applications

COSENZA, VANINA A.; NAVARRO DIEGO A; PONCE, NM A; STORTZ, CARLOS A

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

Springer

Año: 2017;

Seaweeds represent a widely used source of different polysaccharides, well known in the industry for theirfood and nonfood applications. Red seaweeds produce carrageenans, agars, and variants, used in a manifoldof industries as gelling and thickening agents. Brown seaweeds are a source of alginates, fucoidans, andlaminarans; alginates have also wide industrial applications. Green seaweeds produce ulvans and otherglycans. Most of the polysaccharides from red, brown, and green seaweeds are highly sulfated polymers;many of them have been investigated for their strong biological activities (antiviral, antitumor, anticoagulant,etc.), thus bringing hopes of promising applications in the biomedical field.