Structural characteristics of microbial exopolysaccharides in association with their biological activities: a review

Abstract

Many microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) have been reported in the last decade, and their fermentation processes, functional properties and applications, structural characterization, and biological activities have been extensively studied. Despite the great diversity of biological activities already described for EPS, only a few have been exploited industrially. The main reason for this is that the structure–activity relationship of EPS has not been clearly defined. In this review, we collected EPS-related publications from two databases, the Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and reviewed the correlation between the structural characteristics of EPS and observed biological activity, as reported in studies over the last decade. This review focused on the antioxidant, antitumor, immunomodulatory, hypoglycemic, antibacterial, and gut microbial-modulating activities of EPS. This review aimed to lay a foundation for researching the structure–activity relationship of EPS and provide a theoretical basis for important scientific studies and applications of EPS. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].