Sulfated polysaccharides from macroalgae: A simple roadmap for chemical characterization

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Strategic Projects granted toMARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (UIDP/04292/2020 and UIDB/04292/2020), Associate Laboratory ARNET (LA/P/0069/2020), and to BioISI—BioSystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (UIDP/Multi/04046/2020 and UIDB/04046/2020). FCT also funded this work through the project CROSS-ATLANTIC (PTDC/BIA-OUT/29250/2017), cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020; PO-CI-01-0145-FEDER-029250). This work was also supported by FCT and CAPES cooperation agreement through the project MArTics (FCT/DRI/CAPES 2019.00277.CBM).

The marine environment presents itself as a treasure chest, full of a vast diversity of organisms yet to be explored. Among these organisms, macroalgae stand out as a major source of natural products due to their nature as primary producers and relevance in the sustainability of marine ecosystems. Sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) are a group of polymers biosynthesized by macroalgae, making up part of their cell wall composition. Such compounds are characterized by the presence of sulfate groups and a great structural diversity among the different classes of macroalgae, providing interesting biotechnological and therapeutical applications. However, due to the high complexity of these macromolecules, their chemical characterization is a huge challenge, driving the use of complementary physicochemical techniques to achieve an accurate structural elucidation. This review compiles the reports (2016–2021) of state-of-the-art methodologies used in the chemical characterization of macroalgae SPs aiming to provide, in a simple way, a key tool for researchers focused on the structural elucidation of these important marine macromolecules.

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