Alginate Production

The use of alginate is based on three main properties. The first is their ability to thicken when dissolved in water. The second is their ability to form gels. The third property of alginate is the ability to form sodium alginate or calcium alginate films and calcium alginate fibers. Alginate is present in brown algae in the intracellular matrix in gel form and contains sodium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, and barium ions, so the composition of counter ions depends on the ion exchange balance with seawater. The production process of CD BioSciences alginate is relatively simple and can be divided into two categories: the calcium alginate method and the alginic acid method. The key intermediates initially formed are calcium alginate and alginic acid, followed by the formation of alginic acid. The advantage of the calcium alginate process is the ease of separation of calcium alginate and alginic acid precipitated in the form of fibers. Furthermore, although the alginate process has one less step compared to the calcium alginate process, it should be noted that the total loss of alginate in this process is greater than the calcium alginate process.

Fig. 1 Schematics of alginate applications. (Dodero A, et al., 2021)

Our Services

We have developed an industrial method for the manufacture of alginate. We work closely to solve customers' problems, determine the potential of alginate through trials with customers, and propose production solutions. We follow up until it is accepted by the customer's product development and provides "value" to our customers. The brown seaweeds CD BioSciences offers for the production of alginate are Ascophyllum, Durvillaea, Ecklonia, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, and Sargassum. Our services are listed as follows, but are not limited to:

• Alginic acid production
• Sodium alginate production
• Ammonium alginate production
• Potassium alginate production
• Lithium alginate production
• Calcium alginate production
• Magnesium alginate production
• Propylene glycol alginate production
• Alginate microparticles production
• Alginate nanoparticles production

Production Process of Alginate

• Extraction
  Raw or dried weeds are washed with acid to remove cross-linking ions that cause alginate insolubility.
• Calcium precipitation
  The most common precipitation method is the calcium method. In this method, calcium salts are added to the filtrate to produce a fibrous precipitate.
• Acid precipitation
  Another more direct precipitation method is to use the acid directly. The advantage of this method is that the addition and subsequent removal of calcium are avoided, making the process itself simpler.

Professional Alginate Development Technical Support

CD BioSciences is a professional service provider for the marine biology industry. Our alginate production services can ensure that the most suitable methods and techniques are selected for your project. We provide our customers with the most precise ingredient data and highly informed process expertise. Our team of biomass experts plays a key role in the formulation, optimization and commercial evaluation of biomass value-added processes in industry and academia. If necessary, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

• Dodero A, Alberti S, Gaggero G, et al. An Up-to-Date Review on Alginate Nanoparticles and Nanofibers for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications[J]. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2021, 8(22): 2100809.

Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).