Sodium alginate is the sodium form of alginate. Alginate is a
linear, anionic polysaccharide consisting of two form of 1, 4-linked
hexuronic acid residues, β-d-mannuronopyranosyl (M) and α-l-
guluronopyranosyl (G) residues. It can be arranged in the form of
blocks of repeating M residues (MM blocks), blocks of repeating G
residues (GG blocks), and blocks of mixed M and G residues (MG
blocks). Commercially available alginate currently originates from
algae. Alginate has wide applications. For example, one of its most
important role is being used as wound dressing materials for the
treatment of acute or chronic wounds. The use of alginate
crosslinking to make hydrogels for cell encapsulation is also quite
valuable. The emergence of various kinds of its derivatives recently
has further extended its application.
