Food additives data book - wordpres

Polysaccharides 678
REFERENCES: Ash, M., and Ash, I. (1996) Food Additives. Gower Publishing Co., Brookfield, VT.
Craighie, J. S., and Leigh, C. (1978) Carrageenans and Agars. In: Handbook of Physiological and
Biochemical Methods. Cambridge University Press, p. 114.
Shepherd, R. (1996) Extraction, purification and characterization of novel carrageenans with
potential applications in dairy products. NZBA.
Therkelsen, G. H. (1993) Carrageenan. In: Whistler, R. L., and J. N. BeMiller (Eds.), Industrial
Gums: Polysaccharides and Derivatives. 3rd edition, pp. 145–180.
ANY OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION: Carrageenans are natural sulphated polysaccharides which are extracted from red seaweeds
(Rhodophyceae). Euchema spp., Chondrus crispus, Iridaea spp. and Gigartina spp. are the most
important commercial sources of carrageenan. There is concern that low molecular-weight fractions of
carrageenan could be toxic, and many manufacturers have voluntarily stopped using carrageenans in
baby foods.
Semi-refined carrageenans are not water extracts from seaweeds and as such did not match the legal
definition of a carrageenan. They are extracted from seaweeds using an alternative process and differ
from other carrageenans in that they contain significant amounts of celluloses.
See also: carrageenan, iota-carrageenan, lambda-carrageenan and furcellaran