CEAMSA's range of carrageenans are natural hydrocolloids extracted from selected species of red seaweed. The resulting highly specialised extracts are standardized and marketed under the following trade marks:
  CEAMSA´s range of Refined Locust Bean gums or other specially hydrocolloids are marketed under the following trade mark: Our products meet the definition of the US Code of Federal Regulations, Food Chemical Codex, FAO/WHO and European Union, Carrageenan: E407, Locust Bean Gum: E410.

Carrageenan is a highly molecular weight linear polysaccharide made up of repeating galactose units and 3,6 anhydrogalactose, both sulphated and non-sulphated and joined by alternating a1-3, b1-4 glycosidic linkages. Since Carrageenan is a large molecule (molecular weight >500.000 daltons) composed of some 1000 residues, there are many structural variations.

There are basically three main types of commercial Carrageenan that have been identified. These are known as KAPPA, IOTA and LAMBDA which are idealized molecules assigned a definitive structure. Hardly any seaweed yields this ideal Carrageenan, but rather a range of intermediate structures.

Exploiting these basic types requires a detailed technical understanding of the seaweed source, the process used for extraction and modification, as well as an extensive knowledge of the functional requirements of the various food applications – skills that have been developed by CEAMSA for more than 30 years.