The ocean contains many marine organisms, including algae, animals and plants, from which a variety of marine polysaccharides can be extracted. Compared with polysaccharides extracted from land, marine polysaccharides have absolute advantages in biodiversity, biodegradability, low immunogenicity, high natural availability and simple preparation process. Due to the many pharmaceutical properties of marine polysaccharides, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-tumor, anti-obesity, anti-coagulant, anti-viral and immunomodulatory, they have been used in many fields such as biomaterials, food, cosmetics and pharmacology. In addition, marine polysaccharides have a large number of active functional groups on their backbone, such as hydroxyl, amino and carboxylic acid groups. Therefore, the application field of marine polysaccharides can be further expanded by the chemical modification of these active sites.
Classification
Depending on the source, marine polysaccharides can be divided into marine animal polysaccharides, marine plant polysaccharides and marine microbial polysaccharides.
- Marine animal polysaccharides
Marine animal polysaccharides refer to acidic mucopolysaccharides contained in marine animals, such as chitin from crustaceans, chondroitin sulfate from cartilaginous fish, sulfated polysaccharides from sponges, and glycosaminoglycans from scallops and abalone. They usually have a wide range of pharmacological activities.
- Marine plant polysaccharides
Marine plant polysaccharides are the most widely distributed and abundant polysaccharides in marine organisms. They are a kind of multi-component mixture, which is generally water-soluble, and has strong gel and thickening properties. The main cell wall polysaccharides in green seaweeds are ulvans, those in red seaweeds are agars and carrageenans, and those in brown seaweeds are alginates and fucoidans. They are all very important resources for the development of marine polysaccharide drugs.
- Marine microbial polysaccharides
Marine microbial polysaccharides are polysaccharides produced by marine bacteria, microalgae, or fungi. Among them, extracellular polysaccharides are the most common complex polysaccharides derived from marine microorganisms. In recent years, many extracellular polysaccharides with novel chemical compositions, properties and structures have been found to have potential applications in fields such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, food additives, etc.
Applications
Natural polysaccharides derived from the ocean have received extensive attention as a class of potential new materials. Their main applications are described below. Firstly, marine polysaccharides have many general beneficial effects on human health and have therefore been developed as potential cosmeceutical and nutritional supplements. Secondly, marine polysaccharides have a variety of therapeutic functions and can be used to treat diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and viral infection. Thirdly, marine polysaccharides can be used for tissue engineering, immobilization of biomolecules and stent coating. Their ability to detect and respond to external stimuli, such as pH, temperature, and electric fields, has enabled their use in the design of novel drug delivery systems.
Our products
With a deep research base in the field of marine chemistry, Alfa Chemistry has the ability to offer a wide range of high quality marine polysaccharides. The main products we offer are listed below.
| Products | | Product description |
|---|
| Agar | > | Agar is a galactose-based heterogenous polysaccharide derived from red algae. |
| Carrageenan | > | Carrageenan is a natural carbohydrate (polysaccharide) obtained from edible red seaweed. |
| Chitin | > | Chitin is the second most abundant natural biopolymer after cellulose. |
| Chitosan | > | Chitosan is a collective name given to a group of polymers deacetylated from chitin. |
| Fucoidan | > | Fucoidan is a polysaccharide largely made up of L-fucose and sulfate groups. |
| Alginic Acid | > | Alginic acid is a biopolymer formed from chains of polyuronic acids and is extracted from algae sources. |
| Sodium Alginate | > | Sodium alginate, the sodium salt of alginic acid extracted from brown marine brown algae. |
| Ammonium Alginate | > | Ammonium alginate is a monovalent metal salt of alginic acid. |
| Calcium Alginate | > | Calcium alginate is a white to yellow calcium salt of alginic acid. |
| Lithium Alginate | > | Lithium alginate is a type of alginate that is derived from lithium chloride. |
| Potassium Alginate | > | Potassium alginate is a natural polysaccharide carbohydrate extracted from brown algae. |
| Propylene Glycol Alginate | > | Propylene glycol alginate is the propylene glycol-ester of alginic acid. |
| Spirulina Polysaccharide | > | Spirulina polysaccharide is a water-soluble polysaccharide extracted from Spirulina. |
If you do not find what you need, please contact us. We also offer product customization according to customer's detailed requirements.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
