Polysaccharides present in several seaweeds (Kappaphycus alvarezii, Calliblepharis jubata, and Chondrus crispus—Gigartinales, Rhodophyta; Gelidium corneum and Pterocladiella capillacea—Gelidiales, Rhodophyta; Laurencia obtusa—Ceramiales, Rhodophyta; Himanthalia elongata, Undaria pinnatifida, Saccorhiza polyschides, Sargassum vulgare, and Padina pavonica—Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) are analyzed by spectroscopic techniques. The nature of the polysaccharides (with extraction and without any type of extraction) present in these seaweeds was determined with FTIR-ATR and FT-Raman analysis of extracted phycocolloids and ground dry seaweed. 1. Introduction Many species of seaweed (marine macroalgae) are used as food and they have also found use in traditional medicine because of their perceived health benefits. Seaweeds are rich sources of sulphated polysaccharides, including some that have become valuable additives in the food industry because of their rheological properties as gelling and thickening agents (e.g., alginates, agar, and carrageenan). Sulphated polysaccharides are recognized to possess a number of biological activities including anticoagulant, antiviral, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and immunostimulating activities that might find relevance in nutraceutical/functional food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications [1]. Some seaweeds produce hydrocolloids, associated with the cell wall and intercellular spaces. Members of the red algae (Rhodophyta) produce galactans (e.g., carrageenans and agars) and the brown algae (Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae) produce uronates (alginates) and other sulphated polysaccharides (e.g., fucoidan and laminaran) [2–8]. The different phycocolloids used in food industry as natural additives are (European codes of phycocolloids)(i)alginic acid—E400,(ii)sodium alginate—E401,(iii)potassium alginate—E402,(iv)ammonium alginate—E403,(v)calcium alginate—E404,(vi)propylene glycol alginate—E405,(vii)agar—E406,(viii)carrageenan—E407,(ix)semirefined carrageenan or “processed Eucheuma seaweed”—E407A. Carrageenan and agar (Figure 1) are the principal sulphated polysaccharides produced by red seaweeds (Rhodophyta); the main difference between the highly sulphated carrageenans from the less sulphated agars is the presence of D-galactose and anhydro-D-galactose in carrageenans and of D-galactose, L-galactose, or anhydro-L-galactose in agars. Figure 1: Idealized structures of the chemical units of kappa-, iota-, and lambda-carrageenan, agar, alginic acid (M = mannuronic acid and G = guluronic acid), fucoidan and laminaran [ 13, 14].
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