Alginates - A Seaweed Product: Its Properties and Applications

Abstract

Alginates are natural polysaccharides available as seaweed products. They possess several properties due to their molecular structure made of bipolymeric α-L-Guluronic acid and β-D-Mannuronic acid polymers. Alginates have several properties such as film-forming ability, pH responsiveness, and gelling, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxic, processability and ionic crosslinking. They’re commonly used in several industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, dental applications, welding rods and scaffolding. Due to their gelling and non-toxic properties, as well as their abundance in nature, the cosmetics and healthcare industries have shown a great deal of interest in biodegradable polymers in general and alginates particularly over the last few decades.