Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar (M.P.) 470 003, India.
Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India
Curr Drug Deliv. 2020;17(9):755-775. doi: 10.2174/1567201817666200810110226.
Alginates are biopolymers usually obtained from brown seaweed, brown algae (Ochrophyta, Phaeophyceae), and bacteria (Azatobacter vineland and Pseudomonas species) belonging to the family of polycationic copolymers. They are biocompatible, biodegradable, non-antigenic, and non-toxic biopolymer with molecular mass ranges from 32,000-40,000 g/mol in commercial grades. These can be used as edible films or coatings in food industries and also some natural or chemical additives could be incorporated into them to modify their functional, mechanical, nutritional as well as organoleptic properties. Due to their high viscosity and extraordinary shear-thinning effect, they can be used as dietary fibers, thickening, gelling and stabilizing agents. Commercial alginates have vast applications in the fields of biomedical engineering, biotechnology, environmental contaminants treatments, food processing, and pharmaceuticals. Alginates can be used in wound dressings, bone regeneration, neovascularization, protein delivery, cell delivery, theranostic agents, oral drug delivery, controlled release systems, raft formulations, immobilization of biological agents and treatment of environmental contaminants. Various carrier systems can be formulated by the use of alginates like hydrogel, tablets, microcapsules, films, matrices, microspheres, liposomes, nanoparticles, beads, cochleate, floating and supersaturated drug delivery systems. This review presents a broad range of promising applications of alginates, and it can be a great interest to scientists and industries engaged in exploring its hidden potential.
藻酸盐通常从褐藻（褐藻门，褐藻纲）和细菌（固氮菌属和假单胞菌属）中获得，是一种生物聚合物，属于聚阳离子共聚物家族。它具有生物相容性、可生物降解、非抗原性和无毒的特性，其分子量范围在商业级为 32000-40000g/mol。这些可以用作食品工业中的可食用薄膜或涂层，也可以将一些天然或化学添加剂掺入其中，以改变其功能、机械、营养和感官特性。由于其高粘度和非凡的剪切稀化效应，它可用作膳食纤维、增稠剂、胶凝剂和稳定剂。商业藻酸盐在生物医学工程、生物技术、环境污染物处理、食品加工和制药等领域有广泛的应用。藻酸盐可用于伤口敷料、骨再生、新血管生成、蛋白质输送、细胞输送、治疗剂、口服药物输送、控释系统、筏制剂、生物制剂固定化和环境污染物处理。可以通过使用藻酸盐来制备各种载体系统，如水凝胶、片剂、微胶囊、薄膜、基质、微球、脂质体、纳米颗粒、珠粒、螺旋体、漂浮和超饱和药物输送系统。本文综述了藻酸盐的广泛应用，这对于从事探索其潜在用途的科学家和行业来说是非常感兴趣的。
