Extraction, Characterization, and Properties of Plant Polysaccharides

Dear Colleagues,

Polysaccharides are not only important structural components of biological organisms, but also an important receptor of signal or information molecules. They participate in molecular recognition, cell adhesion and cell defense mechanisms. Polysaccharides from many plants have the anti-tumor, immune regulation, anti-oxidation, anti-virus, hypoglycemic, anticoagulant functions, to name a few. Moreover, due to the non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable characteristics of some plant polysaccharides, they have attracted extensive attention as new functional biomaterials and are widely used in the fields of pharmacy, biomedicine and cosmetics. The chemical structure and conformation of polysaccharide chains play an important role in their biological activity; small changes in molecular structure will affect their activity. In order to isolate natural bioactive polysaccharides from various plants and analyze their structural characteristics and bioactivity, it is helpful to understand the biological mechanisms and structure–activity relationship of polysaccharides.

Dr. Aoxue Luo
Guest Editor

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