Altritol in the brown alga Himanthalia elongata

Natural abundance 13 C NMR spectroscopy has shown that altritol (talitol) is a major constituent within vegetative and reproductive tissues of Himanthalia elongata . Quantitative GC studies have confirmed that altritol concentrations are 80–160% higher than for the hexitol mannitol (which occurs throughout the Phaeophyta). The data suggest an osmotic role for altritol.