College of Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China.
National R&D Center for Red Alga Processing Technology, Xiamen 361021, China.
Mar Drugs. 2021 May 23;19(6):297. doi: 10.3390/md19060297.
Agarose is a natural seaweed polysaccharide and widely used in the medicine, food, and biological fields because of its high gel strength, non-toxicity, and electrical neutrality. The sulfate group is one of the main charged groups that affect the performance of agarose. In the present study, a simple, eco-friendly, and efficient method was explored for agarose preparation. After desulfation with hydrogen peroxide (HO), the sulfate content of agar reached 0.21%. Together with gel strength, electroendosmosis, gelling and melting temperature, the indicators of desulfated agar met the standards of commercially available agarose. Notably, the desulfated agar can be used as an agarose gel electrophoresis medium to separate DNA molecules, and the separation effect is as good as that of commercially available agarose. Further, the HO desulfation process was analyzed. The addition of a hydroxyl radical (HO•) scavenger remarkably decreased the HO desulfation rate, indicating that HO• has a certain role in agar desulfation. Sulfate content detection indicated that sulfur was removed from agar molecules in the form of sulfate ions (SO) and metal sulfate. The band absence at 850 cm indicated that the sulfate groups at C-4 of D-galactose in sulfated galactan were eliminated.
琼胶是一种天然海藻多糖，由于其凝胶强度高、无毒、电中性等特点，广泛应用于医学、食品和生物领域。硫酸基是影响琼胶性能的主要带电基团之一。本研究探索了一种简单、环保、高效的琼胶制备方法。用过氧化氢（HO）进行脱硫后，琼脂的硫酸根含量达到 0.21%。与凝胶强度、电渗、凝胶和熔化温度一起，脱硫琼脂的指标符合市售琼胶的标准。值得注意的是，脱硫琼脂可用作琼脂糖凝胶电泳介质分离 DNA 分子，分离效果与市售琼脂糖相当。此外，还分析了 HO 脱硫过程。添加羟基自由基（HO•）清除剂可显著降低 HO 脱硫率，表明 HO•在琼脂脱硫中具有一定作用。硫酸根含量检测表明，琼脂分子中的硫以硫酸根离子（SO）和金属硫酸盐的形式被去除。850cm 处的谱带缺失表明硫酸酯化半乳聚糖中 D-半乳糖 C-4 上的硫酸根基团被消除。
