Extraction and characterization of an alginate from the brown seaweed Sargassum turbinarioides Grunow

Matrix polysaccharide from the brown algae Sargassum turbinarioides collected in the coastal waters of Nosy Be (Madagascar) in the Indian Ocean was isolated and its structure was studied by 1H-NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR, SEC-MALLS and HPAEC. An alginate with a molecular weight of 5.528 × 105 g mol-1 was identified as sole polysaccharide. Values of the M/G ratio, FGG, FMM and FGM (or FGM) blocks were measured at respectively 0.94, 0.39, 0.36 and 0.25 and compared with those of alginates from other Sargassum species. This sodium alginate appeared similar to some of the other Sargassum alginates with M/G > 1, high values of homopolymeric blocks (η > 1) and significant polyguluronic block content. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.