Non-conventional Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Alginates from Sargassum Seaweed: From Coastal Waste to a Novel Polysaccharide Source

Abstract

Sargassum algae are brown free-floating seaweed found worldwide in temperate and tropical regions and provide shelter and food for many animal species. In recent years, their wide-spread presence has gone out of control, leaving dense clumps of rotting weeds and toxic waste along urban beaches. Nevertheless, this harmful brown seaweed is a valid source of sodium alginate (SA), a well-known biodegradable and biocompatible polysaccharide, widely used in food, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications due to its stabilizing and gelling properties. The aim of this paper was the extraction and chemico-physical characterization of sodium alginate from Sargassum seaweeds wastes by using unconventional ultrasound method.