Mild acid hydrolysis of fucoidan: characterization by electrophoresis and FT-Raman spectroscopy.

Along with proteins, lipids, water and minerals, polysaccharides are the main chemical compounds of which macroalgae are built. Among the chemical compounds now widely examined is fucoidan (fucan, fucosan, sulfate fucan or sulfated fucan), a fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharide. Fucoidans isolated from different species have been extensively studied because of their varied biological properties, including anticoagulant and antitumor effects. Methodology based on mild acid hydrolysis can be used as an efficient tool to study the relationship between molecular weight of the sulfated polysaccharides and their biological activities. Anticancer activity of fucoidans can be significantly enhanced by lowering their molecular weight only when they are depolymerized under mild conditions. In this study, fucoidan was identified during extraction with H(2)SO(4) and HCl; its presence was confirmed by FT-Raman spectroscopy in aqueous solution. In particular, shifts at 840cm(-1) were analysed, which are due to the presence of sulfate at the axial C-4 position, as were the shifts at about 811-809cm(-1), for which the sulfated fucoidan is responsible. Shifts of electrophoretic bands of fucoidan resulting from mild acid hydrolysis in H(2)SO(4) and HCl were also analysed. The analytical procedure was developed using apparatus for cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis and this was supplemented by semi-quantitative analysis.

Cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis and FTIR spectroscopy as methods of identifying a fucoidan in Fucusvesiculosus Linnaeus.

A fucoidan from brown algae such as the common bladder wrack (Fucusvesiculosus Linnaeus) is now widely examined in many countries for its interesting biological and therapeutic properties. In this study, the fucoidan was identified during extraction in hydrochloric acid; its presence was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Two slightly different structures were found in real samples of dried bladder wrack supplied by Flos and Witherba, by comparing them with a reference sample of F. vesiculosus L. A simple, repeatable analytical procedure was developed using apparatus for cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis and this was supplemented by semi-quantitative analysis.

The evaluation of structural changes in wool fibre keratin treated with azo dyes by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy spectroscopy is a useful technique for the analysis of structural changes in wool fibres at the molecular and supermolecular levels. Ecological requirements the textile industry has to meet oblige manufacturers to use ecological dyes in the process of fibre dyeing. These dyes should not split into the forbidden, carcinogenic aromatic amines (e.g. benzidine) while used. Wool was dyed with an azo dye, then underwent a chemical reaction. Changes were observed in the region of Amide A, Amide B, Amide I and II, dipolar ions amino acids, and the fingerprint region.