Molecular interactions of plant and algal polysaccharides

This article presents an overview of the interaction in solution of certain plant and algal polysaccharides with cations and also of their interaction in admixture with other polysaccharides and proteins. The mechanism of gelation of pectin and alginate in the presence of calcium ions is discussed together with the specific binding of potassium ions to kappa carrageenan and its influence on the coil-helix transition. The associative and segregative phase behaviour that is encountered in aqueous solutions of mixed polysaccharide systems is considered together with the formation of the soluble and insoluble complexes in mixtures of polysaccharides and proteins.