DEFINITION

Alginic Acid is a hydrophilic colloidal carbohydrate extracted with dilute alkali from various species of brown seaweeds (Phaeophyceae). Alginic Acid is a linear, unbranched copolymer of β-d-mannuronic acid (M) and α-l-guluronic acid (G) linked to each other by 1→4 glycosidic bonds. The M and G units in the Alginic Acid may be randomly or non-randomly arrayed as heterogeneous or homogeneous sequences. The typical average molecular weight for Alginic Acid is in the range of 10,000–600,000 g/mol.