Bioactive Polysaccharides

Bioactive Polysaccharides offers a comprehensive review of the structures and bioactivities of bioactive polysaccharides isolated from traditional herbs, fungi, and seaweeds. It describes and discusses specific topics based on the authors’ rich experience, including extraction technologies, practical techniques required for purification and fractionation, strategies and skills for elucidating the fine structures, in-vitro and in-vivo protocols, and methodologies for evaluating the specific bioactivities, including immune-modulating activities, anti-cancer activities, anti-oxidant activities, and others. This unique book also discusses partial structure-functionality (bioactivities) relationships based on conformational studies. This comprehensive work can be used as a handbook to explore potential applications in foods, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceutical areas for commercial interests. Serves as a comprehensive review on extraction technologies, and as a practical guide for the purification and fractionation of bioactive polysaccharides Brings step-by-step strategies for elucidating the fine structures and molecular characterizations of bioactive polysaccharides Includes detailed experimental design and methodologies for investigation bioactivities using both in-vitro and in-vivo protocols Clarifies how to extract, purify, and fractionate bioactive polysaccharides, also exploring health benefits Useful as a guide to explore the commercial potentials of bioactive polysaccharides as pharmaceuticals, medicine, and functional foods

Bioactive Carbohydrate Polymers is probably the first book dealing with the latest in the field of polysaccharides and related products and their biological activities, especially the immunological effects. The different chapters describe the structure and bioactivity of polysaccharides from plants used in traditional medicine in different parts of the world, especially China, Japan and Europe. The focus of the book is on immunologically active plant and seaweed polysaccharides, pharmacological activities of sulphated polysaccharides of animal and seaweed origin, and on possible activities of polysaccharides in our food. Methods for isolation and characterisation of the polymers with chemical and enzymatic methods is covered, as well as discussions on the different biological test-systems and the information they provide. This book will be useful to scientists and postgraduate students working with polysaccharides and their possible uses, and should be of interest for people working in the areas of chemistry, biology, pharmacy and medicine.

This authoritative reference work presents comprehensive information about one of the most important and most wide-spread classes of (bio)organic compounds: the polysaccharides. The comprehensive and thoroughly up-to-date handbook presents the sources, identification, analysis, biosynthesis, biotechnology and applications of important polysaccharides likes starches, cellulose, chitin, gum and microbial polysaccharides. Polysaccharides can exhibit complex structure and various functional activities. These bio macromolecules can therefore serve as raw materials for various different materials, e.g. rayon, cellulose acetate, celluloid and nitrocellulose; and they find multiple applications, for instance as surgical threads (chitin), as sources of energy, dietary fibers, as blood flow adjuvants, in cosmetics, emulsion stabilizers, film formers, binders, viscosity increasing agents or skin conditioning agenta, as food additives in gums, chewing gum bases and as vaccines. Polysaccharides form the basis for useful products, like xanthan gum, dextran, welan gum, gellan gum, diutan gum and pullulan. Some of the polysaccharide-derived products have interesting and useful properties and show biological activities, such as immunomodulatory, antibacterial, anti-mutagenic, radioprotective, anti-oxidative, anti-ulcer, antidepressant, anti-septicaemic or anti-inflammatory activities. All these applications and properties of polysaccharides are for the first time compiled in a thorough and comprehensive overview in the present work. This reference work is organized thematically in four parts: Part I. Polysaccharides: Occurrence, Structure, Distribution and Biotechnology. Part II. Methods. Part III. Bioactive Polysaccharides. Part IV. Polysaccharides as Food. This reference work is edited by experienced experts, all chapters are written by well recognized international specialists. It is useful to all those working in the field of botany, phytochemistry, pharmacy, drug delivery, molecular biology, metabolomics, forestry, environment, conservation, biotechnology and NGOs working for forest protection.

The complex world of polysaccharides is a compilation of the characteristics of a variety of polysaccharides from plants, animals and microorganisms. The diversity of these polysaccharides arises from the structural variations and the monosaccharide content which is under genetic control. The chemical and physical properties have made them useful in many pharmaceutical, food and industrial applications. These properties of the polysaccharides determine their biological activity and their function in various applications. The role played by polysaccharides in preservation and protection of food, as carriers of nutrients and drugs, their ability to interact with molecules both for efficient delivery as well as improving textures of food colloids and their use as therapeutics are some of the functions discussed.

This is the first concise book that includes different aspects of naturally-derived components for wound healing. It presents the first exhaustive review of modern techniques in wound dressing development. With a growing, ageing population and the rapid growth of the wound-care market, the authors explore the current trend of bio-based products (active components and host materials) in this field. After a short introduction into modern solutions in wound-care and modern techniques in wound-dressing development, the authors, leaders in the field, explore natural-based components (drugs, extracts, materials etc.); safety and efficiency assessments (biocompatibility, cytotoxicity and in vitro performance etc.); and model films as a platform for the development of new wound dressings.

Sugars, with a scientific term as saccharides, are involved in various aspects in the lives of human beings, including the sense of taste, energy for daily life, etc. Recent development in polysaccharides, as well as the background knowledge in this field, further deepens insight into their roles as healthy supplements. In this book, the principles on polysaccharides' solubility and structure, methodologies and application of polysaccharides have been reviewed. The chapters in this book include the relationship between structure and solubility of polysaccharide, the experimental and computational researches on polysaccharide solubility and the common polysaccharide, which may further aid scholars and researchers in regard to solubility of polysaccharides, methodologies and modification.