Abstract
In the recent era, bioactive compounds from plants have received great attention because of their vital health-related activities, such as antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, anticoagulant activity, anti-diabetic activity, UV protection, antiviral activity, hypoglycemia, etc. Previous studies have already shown that polysaccharides found in plants are not likely to be toxic. Based on these inspirational comments, most research focused on the isolation, identification, and bioactivities of polysaccharides. A large number of biologically active polysaccharides have been isolated with varying structural and biological activities. In this review, a comprehensive summary is provided of the recent developments in the physical and chemical properties as well as biological activities of polysaccharides from a number of important natural sources, such as wheat bran, orange peel, barely, fungi, algae, lichen, etc. This review also focused on biomedical applications of polysaccharides. The contents presented in this review will be useful as a reference for future research as well as for the extraction and application of these bioactive polysaccharides as a therapeutic agent.
Highlights
Polysaccharides are considered as vital bio-macromolecules for all living organisms, which are structurally comprised of homo or hetero monosaccharides and uronic acids connected with glycosidic linkages [1,2,3]
Homoglycans comprise of a single type of monosaccharide, such as glycogen and cellulose which consists of glucose molecules, whereas heteroglycans are made up of a different type of monosaccharides, for example, heparin and chondroitin sulfate (CS) [15]
According to grouping based on origins, bioactive polysaccharides are usually classified as those derived from animals, plants, bacteria, lichen, fungi, and algae
Summary
Polysaccharides are considered as vital bio-macromolecules for all living organisms, which are structurally comprised of homo or hetero monosaccharides and uronic acids connected with glycosidic linkages [1,2,3] They are predominantly found in various parts of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and seaweed, and play a critical role in numerous physiological functions of life [4]. To understand the importance of bioactive polysaccharides in the domain of life sciences resulted in the multi-disciplinary collaboration of scientists from the fields of microbiology, phytology, glycol-biology, nutrition, food sciences, and glycol-medicine [5] Polysaccharides both in the simple and complex glycol-conjugated form are renowned for various bioactive functions, for instance, antivirus, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, reno-protective, immunomodulatory, and anti-stress perspectives
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