Antitumor Active Fucoidan from the Brown Seaweed,Umitoranoo (Sargassum thunbergii)

Neutral and acidic polysaccharides and their protein complexes were fractionated and purified from the brown seaweed umitoranoo (Sargassum thunbergii) by fractional extraction, iron-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration. Thirty-one polysaccharide fractions were obtained and tested for antitumor activity in mice with Ehrlich carcinoma transplanted i.p. Two of the fractions, GIV-A (L-fucan containing approx. 30% sulfate ester groups per fucose residue, about 10% uronic acid, and less than 2% protein.