Hye Won Kim (충남대학교)

Hyun Joo An (충남대학교)

Hye Won Kim (충남대학교)

Nari Seo (충남대학교)

Dongtan Yin (충남대학교)

Hyun Joo An (충남대학교)

Marine-derived polysaccharides are attracting considerable interests as high value-added industrial materials due to increased recognition of their potential benefits. Despite their significant functional attributes, research efforts have predominantly focused on exploring the functional properties of polysaccharides while neglecting the essential aspect of their structural characterization. Above all, understanding their structures remains an analytical challenge as they reveal classes of macro- and complex- molecules that share similar but imprecise monosaccharide composition, linkage position, and monomer arrangement. In this study, we have developed a groundbreaking analytical platform based on mass spectrometry that could be an innovative means of elucidating the functional roles and improving quality of marine-derived polysaccharides. In addition, we successfully determined structure and content of fucoidan and alginic acid, which are functional polysaccharides from brown algae. Then, the correlation between their physicochemical properties and biological reactions was investigated, and furthermore, they assisted in the screening of raw materials. Our strategy presents a systematic and efficient approach for the characterization of the most dominant polysaccharides in nature, ultimately providing insight into applications as high value-added materials in fields such as food science, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and biomaterials.

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