{"title":"Biomedical Applications of Agar and its Composites: A Mini-Review","authors":"G. Surendran, A. Sherje","doi":"10.2174/2210315512666220615113320","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n\nAgar is a flexible biopolymer that forms jelly like consistency when mixed with water. It is extracted from seaweeds by treatment with alkali and can also be synthesized from fructose-6-phosphate. Agar and its composites were found to have applications in drug delivery, wound healing, tumour therapy and hyperthermia treatment. Agar gel formulations have been used for ultrasound imaging since it has the ability to scatter sound waves. It has been investigated that agar has the ability to act as a matrix for modified release of drugs. Agar/collagen composites were found to be useful in healing of wounds, burns and ulcers. Agar also has the ability to act as a matrix for carbonyl iron which is found to have a good thermal conductivity and became useful for the treatment of hyperthermia. This review summarizes the properties, sources, biosynthesis, extraction and recent biomedical applications of agar and its composites.\n","PeriodicalId":56153,"journal":{"name":"Natural Products Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Natural Products Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2174/2210315512666220615113320","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MEDICINAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Agar is a flexible biopolymer that forms jelly like consistency when mixed with water. It is extracted from seaweeds by treatment with alkali and can also be synthesized from fructose-6-phosphate. Agar and its composites were found to have applications in drug delivery, wound healing, tumour therapy and hyperthermia treatment. Agar gel formulations have been used for ultrasound imaging since it has the ability to scatter sound waves. It has been investigated that agar has the ability to act as a matrix for modified release of drugs. Agar/collagen composites were found to be useful in healing of wounds, burns and ulcers. Agar also has the ability to act as a matrix for carbonyl iron which is found to have a good thermal conductivity and became useful for the treatment of hyperthermia. This review summarizes the properties, sources, biosynthesis, extraction and recent biomedical applications of agar and its composites.
期刊介绍：
The Natural Products Journal a peer reviewed journal, aims to publish all the latest and outstanding developments in natural products. The Natural Products Journal publishes original research articles, full-length/mini reviews, letters and guest edited issues on all aspects of research and development in the field including: isolation, purification, structure elucidation, synthesis and bioactivity of chemical compounds found in nature.
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