The Power of Alginate: From Seaweed to Industry Solutions

What Is Alginic Acid?

Alginic acid is a natural polysaccharide from marine brown algae. It's basically a linear polymer composed of β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-L-guluronic acid (G) attached by 1 → 4 glycosidic chains.

It's a polysaccharide abundant in the cell wall and intercellular matrix of brown algae (consisting of 22-44% of the dry algae). Alginic acid is highly biofunctional, toxicity-free, biocompactible, biodegradable and gels with calcium, sodium and other ions.

Physicochemical Properties

• High molecular weight polysaccharide, water insoluble, sodium hydroxide solution soluble.
• The formation of water-soluble gel and insoluble gel is affected by polyvalent cations.
• Viscosity, gelling and emulsibility is related to the M:G ratio. Alginic acid with a high G content usually forms a hard and brittle gel, while alginic acid with a high M content forms a more elastic gel.
• Alginate is polyelectrolyte polymer, low or non-toxic, non-immunogenic, biocompatible, biodegradable.

Application Areas of Alginates

Alginic acid is used as a thickener, gelling agent and stabilizer in industry, and is widely found in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. In food processing, for instance, alginic acid is a thickener in soups and jellies, and a disintegrant and stabilizer in pharmaceutical formulations. Also, alginic acid is employed in agriculture as a fertilizer and water retention material.

• Food sector: emulsifier, thickener, stabilizer.
• Pharmaceutical industry: medicine delivery, bio-engineering, repair of injuries, etc.
• Cosmetics: moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant.
• Agriculture industry: soil conditioner, super absorbent.
• Industrial use: textiles, paper, sewerage.

Alginic Acids from Alfa Chemistry

Catalog	Product Name
ACM9005327-1	Alginic acid, Pharmaceutical grade
ACM9005327-2	Alginic acid from brown algae, Analytical grade
ACM9005327-3	Alginic acid from brown algae, BioReagent
ACM9005327-4	Alginic acid, Chemically pure grade
ACM9005327-5	Alginic acid, Pharmaceutical grade, 19-25%, 100mesh
ACM9005327-6	Alginic acid, Pharmaceutical grade, 19-25%, 200mesh

Focus: Sodium Alginate

Sodium alginate is white or yellowish amorphous powder that is inert, water soluble, organic solvent soluble and fragranceless. When dissolved in water, it is a sticky colloid. After more than 95% water content it is ready to transform into gel. If pH value is 6-9, viscosity remains stable and if heat exceeds 80 ° C, the viscosity decreases. The lower pH you get, the viscosity of the sodium alginate solution gets. Sodium alginate is used as a thickener, stabilizer and emulsifier for use in the food industry for example in ice cream, beverages, dairy products, etc. Moreover, sodium alginate is also applied in the medical field for drug delivery, tissue engineering scaffolding, and as a suspension and thickener. This is done by the presence of sodium alginate with the form of gels, microcapsules, and nanoparticles, which has biocompatibility and is not toxic. It also crosses-links with calcium ions to produce gels, important for the delivery of drugs and in tissue engineering.

Sodium Alginates from Alfa Chemistry

Alfa Chemistry has various types of quality sodium alginate products available to suit the various demands of our customers. Our product line includes: 

• Industrial Grade: Can be used for different industries like textile, paper, and water treatment.
• Food Grade: Meets food safety standards and is safe for food and beverage applications.
• Analytical Grade: Very pure for research/analysis.
• Pharma Grade: Conforms to strict pharmaceutical requirements for drug delivery and medical devices.
• We also have sodium alginate products of different viscosity requirements for different applications.

Catalog	Product Name
ACM9005383-1	Alginic acid sodium salt from brown algae, low viscosity
ACM9005383-10	Alginic acid sodium salt, 15-25 cP, 1 % in H2O
ACM9005383-11	Alginic acid sodium salt, Analytial reagent, 90 %, M/G=1:1
ACM9005383-12	Alginic acid sodium salt, Analytial reagent, 90 %, M/G=1:2
ACM9005383-13	Alginic acid sodium salt, Analytial reagent, 90 %, M/G=2:1
ACM9005383-14	Alginic acid sodium salt, Analytial reagent, 98 %
ACM9005383-15	Alginic acid sodium salt, Biochemical grade, suitable for fixing cells, enzymes, etc.
ACM9005383-16	Alginic acid sodium salt, Chemical pure,Viscosity : 200±20mpa.s
ACM9005383-17	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : ≥1000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-18	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : 100-200 mPa.s
ACM9005383-19	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : 200-600 mPa.s
ACM9005383-20	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : 20-100 mPa.s
ACM9005383-21	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : 600-800 mPa.s
ACM9005383-22	Alginic acid sodium salt, Food grade, viscosity : 800-1000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-23	Alginic acid sodium salt, Industrial grade, viscosity : ≥1000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-24	Alginic acid sodium salt, Industrial grade, viscosity : 100-800 mPa.s
ACM9005383-25	Alginic acid sodium salt, Industrial grade, viscosity : 20-100 mPa.s
ACM9005383-26	Alginic acid sodium salt, Industrial grade, viscosity : 800-1000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-27	Alginic acid sodium salt, Low calcium type, calcium content : ≤0.1%
ACM9005383-28	Alginic acid sodium salt, low molecular weight, 10% viscosity : 300-700 mPa.s
ACM9005383-29	Alginic acid sodium salt, Molecular weight : 20,000-50,000, Viscosity : 15-60mpa.s
ACM9005383-30	Alginic acid sodium salt, Pharmaceutical grade
ACM9005383-31	Alginic acid sodium salt, Ultra-high viscosity type I, 1% viscosity : 5000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-32	Alginic acid sodium salt, Ultra-high viscosity type II, 1% viscosity : 7000-10000 mPa.s
ACM9005383-33	Alginic acid sodium salt, Ultra-low viscosity type, 1% viscosity : 3-5 mpa·s
ACM9005383-34	Alginic acid sodium salt, viscosity : 200-500mpa.s (25 °C)
ACM9005383-35	Alginic acid sodium salt, viscosity : 300-800mpa.s, 80 mesh
ACM9005383-36	Alginic acid sodium salt, viscosity : 500-1000mPa.s
ACM9005383-37	Alginic acid sodium salt, viscosity : 50mPa.s(1%,20 °C)
ACM9005383-6	Alginic acid sodium salt from brown algae, BioReagent, suitable for immobilization of micro-organisms
ACM9005383-7	Alginic acid sodium salt from brown algae, BioReagent, suitable for plant cell culture, low viscosity, powder
ACM9005383-8	Alginic acid sodium salt from brown algae, Medium viscosity
ACM9005383-9	Alginic acid sodium salt, 1% viscosity : 1000-1200mPa.s

Industry frontier: sodium alginate hydrogel for bone repair published in Science sub-journal!

Osteoporotic bone defects: these fractures involve the loss of bone structure in osteoporotic patients, and they are a major challenge to orthopedic surgeons. Autologous bone is still the most common form of bone deformity repair in practice. However, the efficacy of this treatment modality is limited by potential complications and limited resources at the donor site. Recently, Chengpei Zhou's team developed a biomimetic hydrogel to improve the osteogenic microenvironment and promote stem cell homing. The authors used calcium ions to change the hardness of sodium alginate (SA) to improve the paracrine properties of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), which can promote the coupling of osteogenesis and angiogenesis and have immunomodulatory functions. [1]

Fig 1. Biomimetic nanomaterials based on sodium alginate used for treating osteoporotic bone defects. [1]

Reference

1. Wei, Fei-Long, et al. Science Advances, 2024, 10(44), eadq6700.

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