*4.3. Fucoidan Purification*

The precipitated polysaccharides were purified using an anion exchange chromatography on an ÄKTA chromatographic system (Uppsala, Sweden). The column (DEAE-sepharose) was equilibrated with 50.0 mM sodium acetate bu ffer (pH 5.3) and eluted with gradient elution using a solvent of 50.0 mM sodium acetate bu ffer with increasing amounts of 2.0 M NaCl in the same bu ffer. The eluates were collected into a hundred 15 mL conical tubes. The polysaccharide content in each tube was measured by the phenol-sulfuric assay [26].
