Alginate as Promising Natural Polymer for Pharmaceutical, Food, and Biomedical Applications

摘要

Alginates are biopolymers usually obtained from brown seaweed, brown algae (Ochrophyta,Phaeophyceae), and bacteria (Azatobacter vineland and Pseudomonas species) belonging to the familyof polycationic copolymers. They are biocompatible, biodegradable, non-antigenic, and non-toxic biopolymerwith molecular mass ranges from 32,000-40,000 g/mol in commercial grades. These can beused as edible films or coatings in food industries and also some natural or chemical additives couldbe incorporated into them to modify their functional, mechanical, nutritional as well as organolepticproperties. Due to their high viscosity and extraordinary shear-thinning effect, they can be used asdietary fibers, thickening, gelling and stabilizing agents. Commercial alginates have vast applicationsin the fields of biomedical engineering, biotechnology, environmental contaminants treatments, foodprocessing, and pharmaceuticals. Alginates can be used in wound dressings, bone regeneration,neovascularization, protein delivery, cell delivery, theranostic agents, oral drug delivery, controlledrelease systems, raft formulations, immobilization of biological agents and treatment of environmentalcontaminants. Various carrier systems can be formulated by the use of alginates like hydrogel,tablets, microcapsules, films, matrices, microspheres, liposomes, nanoparticles, beads, cochleate,floating and supersaturated drug delivery systems. This review presents a broad range of promisingapplications of alginates, and it can be a great interest to scientists and industries engaged in exploringits hidden potential.