DECREASE IN DYNAMIC VISCOSITY AND AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF ALGINATE FROM LAMINARIA DIGITATA DURING ALKALINE EXTRACTION1

Alginates are natural polysaccharides that are extracted from brown seaweeds and widely used for their rheological properties. The central step in the extraction protocol used in the alginate industry is the alkaline extraction, which requires several hours. In this study, a significant decrease in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of phycology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 515 - 517
Main Authors Vauchel, Peggy, Arhaliass, Abdellah, Legrand, Jack, Kaas, Raymond, Baron, Régis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2008
Subjects
alginate
alkaline extraction
average molecular weight
depolymerization
intrinsic viscosity
Laminaria digitata
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Summary:Alginates are natural polysaccharides that are extracted from brown seaweeds and widely used for their rheological properties. The central step in the extraction protocol used in the alginate industry is the alkaline extraction, which requires several hours. In this study, a significant decrease in alginate dynamic viscosity was observed after 2 h of alkaline treatment. Intrinsic viscosity and average molecular weight of alginates from alkaline extractions 1–4 h in duration were determined, indicating depolymerization of alginates: average molecular weight decreased significantly during the extraction, falling by a factor of 5 between 1 and 4 h of extraction. These results suggested that reducing extraction time could enable preserving the rheological properties of the extracted alginates.
Bibliography:Author for correspondence: e‐mail
peggy.vauchel@univ‐nantes.fr
Received 6 April 2007. Accepted 20 September 2007.
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ISSN:0022-3646
1529-8817
DOI:10.1111/j.1529-8817.2008.00482.x