Nature has given and still gives a lot of amazing substances to man. One of them is alginic acid, which is actively used in cosmetics, medicines, as well as in the food industry. It was given to people by the sea.
And again the sea
The seas of our planet have not yet been studied very well. Even seemingly well-studied seafood sometimes presents interesting surprises. Here, for example, algae - brown, red, green. Their structure, lifestyle, impact on marine ecosystems - all this has already been studied quite well. But at the end of the 19th century, quite by accident, as a by-product of obtaining iodine from seaweed, alginic acid s alts - alginates and alginic acid itself were discovered.
Chemical processes
Everything that happens to us and around us is chemistry. The processes that people study make it possible to constantly obtain new substances needed in medicine, in the food industry, for the synthesis of polymers. All the chemical elements that are known to man today, gavenature. Obtaining alginic acid - biological processes occurring in seaweed.
These living organisms use alginates as a moisture-preserving agent that allows them to survive in low tide conditions. People, receiving alginic acid and its derivatives, have learned to use it in medicine, pharmaceuticals, food industry, and cosmetology. This amazing substance is alginic acid. Its formula, from the point of view of chemistry, is quite complicated, because it is a heteropolymer, which is formed by the residue of D-mannuric acid and the residue of L-guluronic acid in different quantitative ratios, depending on the type of algae. The formula looks like this: (C6H8O6)n.
Algae polysaccharide
Any chemicals and their compounds that mankind has learned to extract and synthesize, one way or another, find their application. With alginic acid, discovered at the beginning of the 19th century, the same thing happened, and the range of its use is quite wide. This is due to the properties of the substance extracted from algae. Alginic acid is a polysaccharide - a macromolecular substance of particular importance in the biosphere. There are a lot of such chemical compounds. And a special group is made up of algal polysaccharides, which include alginic acid.
Alginate s alts
Polysaccharides are actively used in many areas of human life. Here, for example, one of them is alginic acid. properties of thissubstances extracted from brown, red and green algae are very diverse. Of particular importance are s alts of alginic acid - potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium alginates. They are well tolerated by the human body, as they are harmless, not digested and absorbed, but are excreted through the intestines. Another feature is the solubility of alginic acid. This natural polymeric carbohydrate (polysaccharide) is insoluble neither in water nor in most organic solvents, which is actively used in medicine and pharmacology. But on the other hand, alginic acid can adsorb an amount of water 300 times greater than itself. And this property also found its application.
Medicine and alginates
Alginic acid is a polysaccharide. It is actively used in pharmaceuticals and medicine. This is due to the properties of both the acid itself and its s alts - alginates. Many scientific studies conducted by medical scientists, chemists, pharmacists, have made it possible to obtain confident results of the successful use of alginic acid in the treatment of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, post-traumatic infections with burns and wounds, immunodeficiency states, intestinal diseases with impaired intestinal motility.
Thus, alginic acid s alts have proven antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal effects. It is widely used in modern medicine in the treatment of various diseases. Alginates help reduce the manifestations of various types of allergies by binding inactive immunecomplexes and type E immunoglobulins. At the same time, algal acid s alts activate the production of local protective type A immunoglobulins, which are responsible for the resistance of the skin and mucous membranes to the effects of pathogenic microorganisms.
Another amazing quality of alginic acid is the ability to bind and remove strontium and cesium radionuclides from the human body, which are widely used in the fight against malignant tumors. In addition, alginates contribute to the active healing of wounds and ulcers, and also have hemostatic properties. A unique substance derived from seaweed that has proven safe for humans is alginic acid. Preparations based on it are becoming popular even in pediatrics and in the treatment of pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Pharmaceuticals and algal acid
Alginic acid has found wide application in the pharmaceutical industry. So, for example, drug capsules made using alginates make it possible to deliver active substances directly to the intestines, where the capsule is destroyed, the drug begins its work, and the shell is excreted from the body.
Another striking example is wound dressings using alginates. They have anti-infective and hemostatic properties. Such dressings do not allow the spread of infection, relieve swelling of the surrounding tissues, and hence their unnecessary injuries. Such medical products have good draining properties, which allows the wound toheal faster. The same properties of alginic acid are used in dentistry.
Beauty and acid
In recent decades, alginic acid has found another area of application - cosmetology. Masks based on this natural substance are becoming more and more popular, as they have unique properties of skin rejuvenation and healing. Not so long ago, a woman could get such a mask only in the salon. Today, powders for making masks with alginates at home can be purchased at cosmetic stores. The powder is diluted with a certain amount of water, and the resulting gel is applied to the face. The effect, according to the reviews of a huge number of women, is simply amazing!
Due to the properties of alginic acid and its s alts, the skin becomes cleaner, fine wrinkles and redness disappear, not only the appearance improves, but swelling and swelling are also removed, and thanks to the antibacterial properties of alginates, inflammatory processes pass. Alginate masks allow you to get a session of healing the skin of the face and décolleté without harm to he alth at home. Such cosmetics often have a complex composition, that is, they contain not only alginic acid or alginates, but also other substances useful for the skin, for example, collagen or chitosan, and herbal ingredients are often included in such masks - chamomile, ginger, green tea. All this makes home cosmetics very effective. The cosmetic industry produces not only masks, but also creams with alginates that helprestore the skin, improve their condition.
Food supplement E400
Alginic acid has found its wide application in the food industry. If you look at the packaging of many products, you can find a link to the food additives included in the composition, and among them E400, E401, E402, E403, E404, E405 are often found. So these food additives are alginic acid and alginates approved for use in the food, pharmaceutical and medical industries. Alginic acid and alginates are thickeners and stabilizers that help substances retain their shape and volume, prevent them from drying out and spoiling. Moreover, alginic acid itself and alginates are excreted from the human body unchanged, without being absorbed by it, which means that it does no harm and does not have side effects.
Nature and man
Another gift of nature, which turned out to be an amazing find - alginic acid. The sea gave it to people, allowing them to obtain a useful substance used in medicine and food production, in pharmaceuticals and cosmetology. Alginates turned out to be those substances that humanity lacked so much. They are harmless, excreted from the human body unchanged, but they have a surprisingly beneficial effect on it, promoting healing, fighting viruses, bacteria and fungi, removing harmful toxins and heavy metals, healing wounds, burns, stopping bleeding, relieving swelling, normalizing blood pressure.pressure and activating the protective functions of the body. It seems that seafood, including algae, will give mankind many more amazing and useful discoveries.
