Fucoidan: A Type of Polysaccharide

Fucoidan is a compound that is classified as a polysaccharide among the carbohydrates. Fucoidan is not the name given to the same material, but it is the generic term for the polysaccharides with the principal component fucose. Polysaccharides are polymeric substances (a molecular weight of more than 10,000 in general) and have a structure in which a lot of single sugar molecules are gathered together by glucosidic bonds. Two monosaccharides bound together form a disaccharide, three, - a trisaccharide, and when it is referred to as a polysaccharide that usually means a combination of 10 or more. The main polysaccharides are amylose and amylopectin, agarose, carrageenan, chitin, heparin, hyaluronic acid, pectin, and xyloglucan. Fucoidan has also become one of these. Polysaccharides tend to be highly hydrophilic, though some may not dissolve in water. Some melt when heated, and polysaccharides in gel form are also used as stabilizers and thickeners. Polysaccharides are broken down by digestion into energy, but polysaccharides that are not digested are treated as dietary fiber. In addition to food, polysaccharides are widely used in fibers, paper, toothpaste, and adhesives. Some foods that contain a lot of monosaccharides are fruit, honey, sugar, and soft drinks. On the other hand, foods that contain many polysaccharides are rice, buckwheat noodles, etc. Monosaccharides are digested and absorbed quickly, soon circulating in the blood steam as blood sugars. Then insulin is secreted in large amounts, and the sugar tends to be stored in the form of fat. Polysaccharides have a structure of monosaccharides attached together, so digestion and absorption is carried out relatively slow. Therefore, there is less insulin secretion for polysaccharides than for monosaccharides. Please have a look at our fucoidan products.