CARRAGEENANS FROM KALLYMENIA-WESTII (RHODOPHYCEAE) WITH A REVIEW OF THE PHYCOCOLLOIDS PRODUCED BY THE CRYPTONEMIALES

The cell-wall polysaccharides of the red alga Kallymenia westii, colle cted at two different depths (45 and 24 m) off the island of St Lucia (Lesser Antilles), were analyzed from dried, ground algal material and after hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide precipitation. Using chemica l, optical, rheological, and spectroscopic (FT-IR and NMR) techniques, they were found to be highly sulfated, complex galactans containing l ow levels of 3,6-anhydrogalactose, 4-O-methylgalactose, and traces of xylose. Pyruvate (0.55%) was attached to the 3-linked galactose. The p hycocolloids produced by algae belonging to the order Cryptonemiales a re reviewed. The galactans of K. westii appear to be similar to the ma jority of them, and, presumably, are of the lambda-carrageenan family.