Polysaccharides, such as alginates, are already being used as carriers for drug delivery. By changing
the physicochemical and biological properties, it is possible that the alginate is used to control drug release.
SA is a biocompatible, non-toxic, non-immunogenic and biodegradable natural linear polysaccharide.
The two kinds of physical sterilization techniques, gamhardly affect the native pH of SA polysaccharide, but deeply affected the intrinsic viscosity and structure
of SA samples. The gamma irradiation was a suitable treatment to sterilize SA, avoiding the side
effects caused by moist heat sterilization and retaining cell viability. The moist heat sterilization seems
only appropriate for SA powers because of the severe side effects produced by heating. The research
results may provide interesting future advancements toward the development of SA-based products for
biomedical applications. However, further studies are required to investigate the mechanical and gelling
properties of sterilized powders and solutions.ma irradiation and moist heat sterilization,