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Updated: Jun 23, 2025

Composite Scaffolds of Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Fibers for Temporally Controlled Release of Biomolecules
Published on: August 19, 2015
Polyelectrolyte complex formation of alginate and chito oligosaccharide is influenced by their proportion and
Nan Wang1, Jie Tian1, Linlin Wang1
1SKL of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Collaborative Innovation Center of Seafood Deep Processing, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Marine Bioactive Polysaccharide Development and Application, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Health, School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China.
Abstract:
Sodium alginate (SA) and chito oligosaccharide (COS) are widely used food additives in the food industry, and exploring their interaction to form polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) may provide insights into food development. In the present study, the effects of viscosity-average molecular weight (Mv) and relative amounts of SA on the formation of sodium alginate/chito oligosaccharide polyelectrolyte (SCP) complexes were investigated. The results showed that the electrostatic interaction between -COOH and -NH2 and the hydrogen bonding between OH, were attributed to the formation of the SCP complexes. Then the formation and properties of SCP complexes were greatly dependent on the Mv and the relative amount of SA. SA with Mv of ≥2.16 × 106 Da could form spherical SCP complexes, while the SA/COS ratio (w/w) ≥ 0.8 was not conducive to the formation of SCP complexes. Moreover, the SCP complexes were more stable in the gastric environment than in the intestinal condition. In addition, 1.73 × 107 Da was the optimal Mv of SA for SCP complexes formation. This study contributed to a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between SA and COS, and shed light on the potential application of SA and COS formulation to develop new food products.
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