Medical
Overview of future pharmaceutical and medical device offerings.
Alginates
General description
Alginate is a linear polysaccharide predominantly occurring in nature in the class of brown seaweed Phaeophyta. Alginates form a polysaccharide family composed of (1à4)-linked β-D-mannuronic acid (M-unit) in 4C1 conformation and its C5- epimer, α-L-guluronic acid (G-unit) in the 1C4 conformation. These unbranched polyanionic block copolymers are composed of homopolymeric regions of M-units (M-blocks), G-units (G-blocks), and regions of alternating epimers (MG-blocks) of various lengths.
Application examples
Dental impression materials, tablets for controlled drug release, treatment of COPD and cystic fibrosis, wound healing fibres, antacids, gel forming stabilisers in food, industrial paper coating, welding electrodes, plastic substitutes, textile industry.
Origin
Laminaria hyperborea.
Product benefits
High guluronic acid (G) content that gives strong gelling power.
Unique viscosity-increasing properties.
No formaldehyde.
Fucoidans
General description
Fucoidans are sulfated polysaccharide predominantly composed of fucose (but also containing galactose, glucose, xylose and other sugars). Fucoidans are very heterogeneous and strongly differ in terms of sugar composition, molecular weight, degree of sulfation, glycosidic linkages and branching. Fucoidans display a large array of bioactive properties. The bioactivity is mostly based on physical properties like the amount of charges (degree of sulfation), the viscosity (molecular weight) and the ability of fucoidan to mimic the structure of glycosaminoglycans, functional carbohydrates in mammalian organisms (due to their heterogenous branching).
Application examples
Studies have found fucoidan to have a broad variety of biological activities, including, but not limited to antitumor and antiangionetic activites, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antithrombotic, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activities. In medicine, fucoidan has been applied in 3D printing of organs, prevention of wound adhesion, wound dressing, age related macular degeneration (AMD). For cosmetics, fucoidan has been used e.g., in moisturisers, as replacement for hyaluronic acid, for UV protection, anti-aging, and enzyme inhibition.
Origin
Laminaria hyperborea.
Product benefits
Highly purified, highly characterised.
Highest Mw and highest degree of sulfation (DS) on the market.
Separation into different Mw ranges for different applications.
Cellulose
General description
Cellulose is a carbohydrate polymer consisting of repetitive connections of D-glucose building blocks. The linear stiff-chain homopolymer is of varying molecular structure length according to degree of polymerisation, and is characterised by its hydrophilicity, chirality, biodegradability, broad chemical modifying capacity, and is formation of versatile semicrystalline fiber morphologies. Cellulose is divided into six crystal structures whereof cellulose I is the native cellulose structure found in i.e. nature. The solid state of native cellulose consists of areas of both high order (crystalline) and low order (amorphous). Iα and Iβ are two allomorphs of cellulose I, which can be found alongside each other depending on the origin of the cellulose. Studies suggest that cellulose from L. hyperborea is of the cellulose Iα allomorph with a triclinic unit cell crystal structure.
Application examples
Film formation, gelling agent, viscosifier, cell growth medium, cosmetics, plastic replacement, wound dressings, skincare, contact lenses, 3D printing, textile industry, paper industry.
Origin
Laminaria hyperborea.
Product benefits
High molecular weight, crystallinity and tensile strength.
Native.