Alginates – Applications in the Biomedical and Food Industries

Unique book devoted to alginates' properties, modification, characterization, derivatives, composites, hydrogels with particular emphasis on their applications in the biomedical and food industries.

Alginate is a hydrophilic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and relatively economical polymer generally found in marine brown algae. The modification in the alginate molecule after polymerization has shown strong potential in biomedical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications such as wound dressing, drug delivery, dental treatment, in cell culture and tissue engineering. Besides this, alginates have industrial applications too in the paper and food industries as plasticizers and additives.

Some of the wide-ranging topics discussed in this book include:

• A detailed account of alginates, their structures and properties, modification and various characterization techniques as well as methods of processing
• Covers the uses of alginates in pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, restorative dentistry, food packaging, beverage industry, and comestible applications of alginates
• Discusses applications of different cross-linked alginate networks, their microspheres and hydrogels in relation to drug encapsulation and delivery processes and includes an introduction of the chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry of alginates
• Discusses the present use and future potential of alginates as a tool in drug formulation and regenerative medicine.

Audience

This book will be helpful for scientists and researchers in the areas of polymer chemistry and polymer technology, biomedical engineering, biomaterials, chemistry, materials science, pharmaceutical sciences, and food engineering. Relevant industries include biomedical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food and paper.