DEFINITION

Potassium Alginate is the purified carbohydrate product extracted from various species of brown seaweeds by the use of dilute alkali. It consists chiefly of the potassium salt of Alginic Acid, 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 alginates may be randomly or non-randomly arrayed as heterogeneous or homogeneous sequences. It yields NLT 16.5% and NMT 19.5% of carbon dioxide (CO₂), equivalent to NLT 89.2% and NMT 105.5% of potassium alginate, calculated on the dried basis. Typical average molecular weight is in the range of 10,000–600,000 g/mol.