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Polymers
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Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application
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Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 9032

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hui Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Interests: dietary fiber; structural characterization; rheology; interaction; food structuring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kexue Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Spice and Beverage Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Wanning 571533, China
Interests: carbohydrate polymers; polysaccharides; gut microbiota; glucose metabolism; obesity; diabetes mellitus; inflammation bowel disease; immune regulation; antioxidant activity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural polysaccharides are extremely common and widespread in plants, microorganisms, algae, and animals. They are considered as a kind of indigestible carbohydrate or dietary fibers, and found to possess many functional properties and bioactivities. Due to their nontoxicity, sustainability, biodegradability, and environmental friendliness, they can be applied in various fields, including food, cosmetics and cosmeceuticals, bio-pharmaceutical, fine chemicals, and bioplastics, etc. This special issue entitled “Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application” will focus on the relevant current knowledge of polysaccharides in their functional evaluation and application, to provide the most recent perspectives on this field. Papers of interest include research of polysaccharides and polysaccharide-based hydrocolloids from natural resources. The research on the fractionation, characterization, physicochemical properties, molecular modeling, evaluation of bioactive/physical functions, interactions with food matrix, and application as food additives, delivery system, wound dressing, packaging, and other innovative materials are welcomed.

Dr. Hui Zhang
Dr. Kexue Zhu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural polysaccharide
  • structural characterization
  • molecular modelling
  • biological activities
  • physical functions
  • structure-function relationship
  • interaction
  • application

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 6797 KiB  
Article
Structure and Properties of Exopolysaccharide Produced by Gluconobacter frateurii and Its Potential Applications
by Yingying Ning, Huiying Cao, Shouqi Zhao, Dongni Gao and Dan Zhao
Polymers 2024, 16(7), 1004; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16071004 - 7 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1816
Abstract
An exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing bacterium was isolated from apricot fermentation broth and identified as Gluconobacter frateurii HDC-08 (accession number: OK036475.1). HDC-08 EPS is a linear homopolysaccharide mainly composed of glucose linked by α-(1,6) glucoside bonds. It contains C, H, N and S elements, with [...] Read more.
An exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing bacterium was isolated from apricot fermentation broth and identified as Gluconobacter frateurii HDC-08 (accession number: OK036475.1). HDC-08 EPS is a linear homopolysaccharide mainly composed of glucose linked by α-(1,6) glucoside bonds. It contains C, H, N and S elements, with a molecular weight of 4.774 × 106 Da. Microscopically, it has a smooth, glossy and compact sheet structure. It is an amorphous noncrystalline substance with irregular coils. Moreover, the EPS showed surface hydrophobicity and high thermal stability with a degradation temperature of 250.76 °C. In addition, it had strong antioxidant properties against DPPH radicals, ABPS radicals, hydroxyl radicals and H2O2. The EPS exhibited high metal-chelating activity and strong emulsifying ability for soybean oil, petroleum ether and diesel oil. The milk solidification test indicated that the EPS had good potential in fermented dairy products. In general, all the results demonstrate that HDC-08 EPS has promise for commercial applications as a food additive and antioxidant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application)
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12 pages, 3732 KiB  
Article
Rheological Properties and Kinetics of Gelation of Binary Polymers between Xanthan Gum and Locust Bean Gum
by Hui Zhang, Zhun Yan, Fan Xie, Yanjun Tian and Lianzhong Ai
Polymers 2023, 15(23), 4604; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15234604 - 2 Dec 2023
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2770
Abstract
The synergistic interaction and gelling kinetics between xanthan gum (XG) and locust bean gum (LBG) at different mass ratios (XG/LBG 9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, 1:9) were investigated using a rheometer. The results showed that the mixtures of XG and LBG induced gel formation, [...] Read more.
The synergistic interaction and gelling kinetics between xanthan gum (XG) and locust bean gum (LBG) at different mass ratios (XG/LBG 9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, 1:9) were investigated using a rheometer. The results showed that the mixtures of XG and LBG induced gel formation, and the strongest gel structure was found for the mixture of XG/LBG 3:7 according to the yield stress, storage modulus (G′), and power law parameters. Temperature ramp studies indicated that heating destroyed the gels at 55~60 °C, while cooling induced the sol–gel transition at around 52 °C for all mixtures. Structure developing rate (SDR) curves showed that XG/LBG 3:7 exhibited the highest SDR during the cooling ramp among all the samples. Non-isothermal kinetic analysis demonstrated that the gelation process of XG/LBG mixtures during cooling included two steps: a high-temperature region (55~39 °C) needing higher activation energy (Ea, 111.97 to 199.20 kJ/mol for different mixtures) and a low-temperature region (39~20 °C) needing lower Ea (74.33 to 85.31 kJ/mol), which indicated higher energy barriers to overcome at the initial stage of gel formation. The lowest Ea of 74.33 kJ/mol was found for XG/LBG 3:7 in the low-temperature region. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the gel of XG/LBG 3:7 presented the densest entanglements. These results indicated the strongest synergism interaction occurred in XG/LBG 3:7 to form gel network structures. This study will help promote the application of XG-LBG blends to design novel food structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application)
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13 pages, 6235 KiB  
Article
Degradation Characteristics of Cellulose Acetate in Different Aqueous Conditions
by Jiao Tan, Yinchun Liang, Lihui Sun, Zhanping Yang, Jingjing Xu, Dejun Dong and Huan Liu
Polymers 2023, 15(23), 4505; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15234505 - 23 Nov 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3478
Abstract
Cellulose acetate (CA) is widely used in cigarette filters and packaging films, but due to its acetylation, it is difficult to degrade in the natural environment, and the problem of pollution has become a serious challenge. Understanding the degradation behavior and performance of [...] Read more.
Cellulose acetate (CA) is widely used in cigarette filters and packaging films, but due to its acetylation, it is difficult to degrade in the natural environment, and the problem of pollution has become a serious challenge. Understanding the degradation behavior and performance of CA in different environments is the basis and prerequisite for achieving its comprehensive utilization and developing efficient degradation methods. In this study, we investigated the degradation performance of CA in different aqueous environments to evaluate the effects of pH, salinity and microorganisms on CA degradation. The CA tows and films were immersed in HCl, NaOH solution, river water, seawater or homemade seawater for 16 weeks and the degradation mechanism was investigated by the changes in weight loss rate, degree of substitution, hydrophilicity, molecular structure and surface morphology. The results showed that the degradation of CA tow and film were the fastest in NaOH solution; the weight loss rates after 16 weeks were 40.29% and 39.63%, respectively, followed by HCl solution, and the degradation performance of CA tow was better than that of film. After 16 weeks of degradation in river water, seawater and homemade seawater, all the weight loss rates were less than 3%. In summary, this study illustrated that the environmental acidity, basicity and high concentration of inorganic salts had a critical promotion effect on the non-enzymatic hydrolysis of CA, whereas the number and type of microorganisms were the key factors affecting the biodegradation of CA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Natural Polysaccharides: Function and Application)
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