This presentation covers the topic of General Characteristics & its Application of Marine Polysaccharides i.e. Agar, Agarose & Chitosan in an elaborative and easy to understand way for studying and notes purpose.

1. Marine Polysaccharides
General Properties & their Applications
(Agar-Agarose & Chitosin)
Paper 1…
Unit 1.1.3…
Name- Kainaat. S.
Khateeb…
M.Sc Part 2…
Roll No- 16…

2. What are Marine Polysaccharides..?
• Polysaccharides are polymeric carbohydrate molecules
composed of long chains of monosaccharide units bound
together by glycosidic bonds and on hydrolysis give rise to
monosaccharide or oligosaccharides.
• When these Polysaccharides are obtained from MARINE
Plants & Animals, they are known as Marine Polysaccharides.

3. Introduction…
• The ocean contains numerous marine organisms, including
algae, animals, and plants, from which diverse marine
polysaccharides with useful physicochemical and biological
properties can be extracted.
• In particular, fucoidan, carrageenan, alginate and chitosan have
been extensively investigated in pharmaceutical and
biomedical fields owing to their desirable characteristics, such
as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioactivity.
• Various therapeutic efficiencies of marine polysaccharides
have been stated, including the inhibition of cancer,
inflammation and viral infection.

4. • The therapeutic activities of these polysaccharides have been
demonstrated in various settings, from in vitro laboratory-scale
experiments to clinical trials.
• In addition, marine polysaccharides have been exploited for
tissue engineering & the immobilization of biomolecules..
• Their ability to detect and respond to external stimuli, such as
pH, temperature, and electric fields, has enabled their use in
the design of novel drug delivery systems.
• Thus, along with the promising characteristics of marine
polysaccharides, there are various therapeutic, biomedical and
other applications.

5. Types…
• The types that we are going to study includes;
1. Agar & Agarose.
2. Chitosin.

6. General Characteristics of Agar &
Agarose…
• The most important characteristics of agar are the following.
1. Its great gelling power in an aqueous environment allows it to
form gels which are more resistant (stronger) than those of any
other gel-forming agent, assuming the use of equal concentrations.
2. The simple water solution has that gelling power. There is no need
to add reagents to produce gelation, such as potassium (or proteins
as is necessary with carrageenan), calcium (or other divalent
cations as is necessary with alginates). High sugar concentrations
or an acid environment (as is necessary with pectins) are not
needed.
3. It can be used over a wide range of pH, from 5 to 8, and in some
cases beyond these limits.
4. It withstands thermal treatments very well, even above 100°C
which allows good sterilization.

7. 5. A 1.5% aqueous solution gels between 32°C-43°C and does not
melt below 85°C. This is a unique property of agar, compared to
other gelling agents.
6. Agar gives gels without flavour and does not need the additions of
cations with strong flavours (potassium or calcium), it can be used
without problems to gel food products with soft flavours.
7. It assimilates and enhances flavours of products mixed with it and
acts as a fragrance-fixer permitting their long term fixation.
8. Its gel has an excellent reversibility allowing it to be repeatedly
gelled and melted without losing any of the original properties.
9. Transparent gels that are easily coloured can be obtained whose
refractive index can also be easily increased by adding sugar,
glucose, glycerine, etc., given them an attractive brightness.
10. The gel is very stable, not causing precipitates in the presence of
certain cations as happens to alginates with calcium.

8. Application Of Agar-Agarose…
• The uses of Agar can be grouped in the following broad categories.
1. Culinary:- It is used for making jellies, cakes, etc.
2. Motility:- As a gel, an agar or agarose medium is porous and therefore
can be used to measure microorganism motility and mobility.
3. Plant Biology:- Research grade agar is used extensively in plant biology
as it is supplemented with a nutrient and vitamin mixture that allows for
seedling germination in Petri dishes under sterile conditions (given that
the seeds are sterilized as well).
4. As an impression material in dentistry.
5. As a medium to precisely orient the tissue specimen and secure it by agar
pre-embedding (especially useful for small endoscopy biopsy specimens)
for histopathology processing.
6. To make salt bridges and gel plugs for use in electrochemistry.
7. In formicariums as a transparent substitute for sand and a source of
nutrition.

9. 8. As a natural ingredient to form modelling clay for
young children to play with.
9. As an allowed biofertilizer component in organic
farming.
10. As a substrate for precipitin reactions in immunology.
11. Gelidium agar is used primarily for bacteriological
plates. Gracilaria agar is used mainly in food
applications.
12. In 2016, AMAM, a Japanese company, developed a
prototype for Agar-based commercial packaging system
called Agar Plasticity, intended as a replacement for oil-
based plastic packaging.[

10. • The uses of Agarose is as follows:-
1. Immunodiffusion and diffusion techniques.
2. Electrophoresis of particles carrying electrical charges with
direct application for proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides
that necessarily are charged in conventional electrophoresis as
well as reverse electrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis or
electrofocusing.
3. Chromatographic techniques in gel chromatography, ion
exchange chromatography (for which the required polar groups
will be fixed in the agarose), affinity chromatography or
chromatofocusing.
4. In bioengineering as a raw material for beads used in
chromatographic columns for separations of proteins, as well as
cross-linked beads to which active molecules can be attached
which can be recovered afterwards.
5. In microbiology as an excellent base for growing very special
cultures, in many cases related to oncological research.

12. General Characteristics of Chitosan…
• Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide composed of randomly
distributed β-(1→4)-linked D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-
glucosamine.
• It is made by treating the chitin shells of shrimp and other
crustaceans with an alkaline substance, like sodium hydroxide.
• Its Properties are as follows:-
1. Chitosan is produced commercially by deacetylation of chitin,
which is the structural element in the exoskeleton
of crustaceans (such as crabs and shrimp) and cell walls of fungi.
2. The degree of deacetylation can be determined by NMR
spectroscopy, and the %DD in commercial chitosans ranges from
60 to 100%.

13. 3. On average, the molecular weight of commercially produced
chitosan is between 3800 and 20,000 Daltons.
4. The amino group in chitosan has a pKa value of ~6.5, which leads
to significant protonation in neutral solution, increasing with
increased acidity (decreased pH) and the %DA-value. This makes
chitosan water-soluble and a bioadhesive which readily binds to
negatively charged surfaces such as mucosal membranes.
5. Chitosan enhances the transport of polar drugs across epithelial
surfaces, and is biocompatible and biodegradable.
6. It is not approved by FDA for drug delivery though.
7. Purified quantities of chitosans are available for biomedical
applications.
8. Nanofibrils have been made using chitin and chitosan.

14. Applications of Chitosan…
• The uses of Chitosan is as follows:-
1. The agricultural and horticultural uses for chitosan, primarily for
plant defense and yield increase, are based on how this
glucosamine polymer influences the biochemistry and molecular
biology of the plant cell.
2. In agriculture, chitosan is typically used as a natural seed treatment
and plant growth enhancer, and as an ecologically
friendly biopesticide substance that boosts the innate ability of
plants to defend themselves against fungal infections.
3. Chitosan can be used in hydrology as a part of a filtration process.
4. Chitosan causes the fine sediment particles to bind together, and is
subsequently removed with the sediment during sand filtration. It
also removes heavy minerals, dyes, and oils from the water.
5. As an additive in water filtration, chitosan combined with sand
filtration removes up to 99% of turbidity.

15. 6. Chitosan is among the biological adsorbents used for heavy metals
removal without negative environmental impacts.
7. Chitosan has a long history for use as a fining agent in
winemaking.
8. Chitosan's is used within some wound dressings to stop
bleeding. It also appears to decrease the growth of bacteria and
fungus. It was also being look at as a burn dressing as of 2011.
9. Chitosan and derivatives have been explored in the development
of nanomaterials, bioadhesives, and edible coatings for drug
delivery and in medical devices.
10. Chitosan is marketed in a tablet form as a "fat binder".
11. Bioinspired materials, a manufacturing concept inspired by
natural nacre, shrimp carapace or insect cuticles, has led to
development of bioprinting methods to manufacture large scale
consumer objects using chitosan.
12. This method is based on replicating the molecular arrangement of
chitosan from natural materials into fabrication methods, such
as injection molding or mold casting.Once discarded, chitosan-
constructed objects are biodegradable and non-toxic.

17. Reference…
• www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov - Marine polysaccharides: therapeutic
efficacy and biomedical applications. - PubMed - NCBI
• www.agargel.com.br - AgarGel : Agar-Agar : Properties and
Specifications
• www.sciencedirect.com - Chemical Characteristics and
Functional Properties of Chitosan
• www.fao.org - PRODUCTION, PROPERTIES AND USES
OF AGAR

18. Thank You…