Polysaccharides

Polyguluronic acid is produced from alginates by partial hydrolysis and chromatography of brown algae such as Laminaria digitata, Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus spp.
The image was kindly provided by Prof Mike Guiry from Cork who runs ‘The Seaweed Site’.MW is ca 6000 - 8000Da.poly-M levels are ca 3%

Laminaran is a polysaccharide that co-occurs with fucoidan and alginate in brown seaweeds such as Laminaria digitata, Laminaria cloustoni, Eisenia bicyclis and Thallus laminariae. It is a β-1,3-linked glucan which it is claimed stimulates the immune system in mammals and fish.
The image was kindly provided by Prof Mike Guiry from Cork who runs ‘The Seaweed Site’.

Guar gum is obtained from the seed of the legume Cyamopsis tetragonolobus, an annual plant that grows mainly in semi-arid regions of India. The structure of the polysaccharide consists of a main chain of (1,4)-linked β-D-mannopyranosyl units with single α-D-galactopyranosyl units linked (1,6) on average to every second main chain unit. Guar has a high viscosity in aqueous solution, shows marked pseudoplastic behaviour and forms synergistic gels in the presence of other gums such as carrageenan and xanthan gum.

Propylene glycol alginate is a reaction product of propylene oxide and alginic acid. At the 49th JECFA meeting (1997) it was resolved that the total dietary propylene glycol intake from all sources should be allocated an ADI of 0-25 mg/kg.  Applications include as a stabiliser in beer foam due to electrostatic interaction between carboxyl groups on the glycol alginate molecules and amino groups on the peptides in the bubble wall and in ice cream by emulsifying the fat.Esterification is greater then 80%Viscosity (1% aq solution): 200-300 mpa.s

In water, hydroxypropyl cellulose forms liquid crystals with many mesophases depending on concentration. These mesophases include isotropic, anisotropic, nematic and cholesteric, the latter resulting in many colors such as violet, green and red. Pharmaceutical applications include treatments for medical conditions such as dry eye syndrome (keratoconjunctivitis sicca), recurrent corneal erosions, decreased corneal sensitivity, exposure and neuroparalytic keratitis. It is also used as a binder in tablets. Hydroxypropylcellulose is also used as a thickener, a binder and emulsion stabiliser in foods with E number E463.  HPC is used as a support matrix for DNA separations by capillary and microchip electrophoresis.

Glycogen is a highly branched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals and fungi. It is the main storage form of glucose in the body.  In humans, glycogen is made and stored primarily in liver and muscle cells and functions as the second most important energy storage molecule to fat which is held in adipose tissue. Glycogen is analogous to starch and has a structure similar to amylopectin, but is more extensively branched and compact than starch. It occurs as granules in the cytosol/cytoplasm in many cell types, and plays an important role in the glucose cycle.

Applications Isomaltopentaose, is an isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO) compound, used as functional food ingredients.
References Hu, Y., et al.: Lett. App. Microbio., 57, 108 (2013);

Applications Isomaltotetraose, can be used for immunizication of hybridoma antibodies. the use of synthetic glycolipids as antigens enables one to study the gene control of antibody responses to glycolipids and to investigate the combining-site specificities of antibodies to a single antigenic determinant.
References Lai, E., et al.: Mol. Immunology, 22(9), 1021 (1985); Chen, H. T., et al.: Mol. Immunology, 24(4), 333 (1987);

Applications 2-Amino-2-deoxygalacturonic acid was a component of the lipopolysaccharide from P. aeruginosa NCTC 8505 and probably occurs in the region of polysaccharide responsible for O-antigenic specificity.
References Wilkinson, S.G., et al.: Biochem. J., 149, 783 (1975),

Viscoelastic polymer; excipient; food additive

Fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran is a fluorescent derivative of a dextran fraction with an average molecular weight of approximately 4000. It is supplied as a yellow powder which is readily soluble in water.

Pectin is a highly complex polysaccharide matrix that is found in the primary walls of dicotyledenous and monocotyledenous plants and gymnosperms, including potato. A key fragment of this complex is rhamnogalacturonan I, containing a backbone of the repeating disaccharide  [-4)-α-D-GalpA-(1,2)-α-L-Rhap-(1,]. Several applications for RG1 have been described including drug targeting to the colon via the oral administration route for local treatment of e.g. inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.  This has several advantages such as needle-free administration and low infection risk. In the gastro-intestinal tract RG-I is only degraded by the action of the colonic microflora. High purity rhamnogalacturonan I is also used in research, biochemical enzyme assays and in vitro diagnostic analysis.

Ulvans are structural polysaccharides present in the cell walls of green algae such as Ulva armoricana, Ulva rotondata, Ulva rigida, Ulva lacterca and Ulva pertusa. They are highly sulphated and contain rhamnose 3-sulphate, xylose, xylose 2-sulphate, glucuronic acid and iduronic acid residues. Ulvan has several potentially valuable functionalities such as gel formation for agricultural and food applications and possible anticoagulant, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic and antitumoral activities for pharmaceutical applications.
The image was kindly provided by Prof Mike Guiry from Cork who runs ‘The Seaweed Site’.