Physicochemical properties of porphyran from Porphyra yezoensis

Red seaweeds contain considerable amounts of polysaccharides often having peculiar structures. The major soluble polysaccharide in Porphyra species is porphyran, which usually has a linear backbone composed of alternating 3-O-linked $\beta$-D-galactopyianose and 4-O-linked $\alpha$-L-galactopyranose(or 3,6 anhydro-L-galacto pyranose) residues. But the substituting patterns are very complex. (omitted)