Abstract
With the increasing growth of the algae industry and the development of algae biorefinery, there is a growing need for high-value applications of algae-extracted biopolymers. The utilization of such biopolymers in the biomedical field can be considered as one of the most attractive applications but is challenging to implement. Historically, polysaccharides extracted from seaweed have been used for a long time in biomedical research, for example, agarose gels for electrophoresis and bacterial culture. To overcome the current challenges in polysaccharides and help further the development of high-added-value applications, an overview of the entire polysaccharide journey from seaweed to biomedical applications is needed. This encompasses algae culture, extraction, chemistry, characterization, processing, and an understanding of the interactions of soft matter with living organisms. In this review, we present algae polysaccharides that intrinsically form hydrogels: alginate, carrageenan, ulvan, starch, agarose, porphyran, and (nano)cellulose and classify these by their gelation mechanisms. The focus of this review further lays on the culture and extraction strategies to obtain pure polysaccharides, their structure-properties relationships, the current advances in chemical backbone modifications, and how these modifications can be used to tune the polysaccharide properties. The available techniques to characterize each organization scale of a polysaccharide hydrogel are presented, and the impact on their interactions with biological systems is discussed. Finally, a perspective of the anticipated development of the whole field and how the further utilization of hydrogel-forming polysaccharides extracted from algae can revolutionize the current algae industry are suggested.
Highlights
Water, minerals, and the movement of commodities and natural resources through trade routes provide us with a multitude of resources that are vital for life on earth
Soil plants have been used for food production and as materials for construction, and the extraction of cellulose has led the establishment of thriving textile and paper industries
With the available area that oceans offer for culture and with developing knowledge on algae, there is an untapped potential for the emergence of an industry based on materials extracted from algae
Summary
Water, minerals, and the movement of commodities and natural resources through trade routes provide us with a multitude of resources that are vital for life on earth. Obtaining a colorless material can be achieved by bleaching with hydrogen peroxide,[158] extraction with organic solvents,[159] or purification using macroporous resin.[160] Note that too-high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can lead to a decomposition of the polysaccharides reducing its molecular weight and the extraction yield.[161] The extraction of polysaccharides can rely on the chemical properties, such as charge, for alginate.[162] More recent advances based on flocculation processes are using long-chain quaternary ammonium salts, to precipitate the polysaccharide by the formation of water-insoluble complexes and separate the complex from neutral biopolymers For this method, commonly used reagents are hexadecyltrimethyllammonium bromide[163,164] and cetylpyridinium chloride.[165] Besides precipitation by long-chain quaternary ammonium ions, ion-exchange chromatography is being developed for polysaccharide purification.
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