Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(12), 2572-2604; doi:10.3390/md9122572
Review

Marine Polysaccharides in Microencapsulation and Application to Aquaculture: “From Sea to Sea”

Massimiliano Borgognaemail, Barbara Bellichemail and Attilio Cesàro* email
Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri, 1-I-34127 Trieste, Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 October 2011; in revised form: 18 November 2011 / Accepted: 22 November 2011 / Published: 8 December 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Polysaccharides)
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Abstract: This review’s main objective is to discuss some physico-chemical features of polysaccharides as intrinsic determinants for the supramolecular structures that can efficiently provide encapsulation of drugs and other biological entities. Thus, the general characteristics of some basic polysaccharides are outlined in terms of their conformational, dynamic and thermodynamic properties. The analysis of some polysaccharide gelling properties is also provided, including the peculiarity of the charged polysaccharides. Then, the way the basic physical chemistry of polymer self-assembly is made in practice through the laboratory methods is highlighted. A description of the several literature procedures used to influence molecular interactions into the macroscopic goal of the encapsulation is given with an attempt at classification. Finally, a practical case study of specific interest, the use of marine polysaccharide matrices for encapsulation of vaccines in aquaculture, is reported.
Keywords: polysaccharide properties; conformation and dynamics; hydrogels; encapsulation; fish vaccination

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Borgogna, M.; Bellich, B.; Cesàro, A. Marine Polysaccharides in Microencapsulation and Application to Aquaculture: “From Sea to Sea”. Mar. Drugs 2011, 9, 2572-2604.

AMA Style

Borgogna M, Bellich B, Cesàro A. Marine Polysaccharides in Microencapsulation and Application to Aquaculture: “From Sea to Sea”. Marine Drugs. 2011; 9(12):2572-2604.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Borgogna, Massimiliano; Bellich, Barbara; Cesàro, Attilio. 2011. "Marine Polysaccharides in Microencapsulation and Application to Aquaculture: “From Sea to Sea”." Mar. Drugs 9, no. 12: 2572-2604.

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