Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jul 14;28(14):5407.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28145407.

Recent Developments and Applications of Microbial Levan, A Versatile Polysaccharide-Based Biopolymer

Marta Domżał-Kędzia  1   2 , Monika Ostrowska  2 , Agnieszka Lewińska  3   4 , Marcin Łukaszewicz  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Recent Developments and Applications of Microbial Levan, A Versatile Polysaccharide-Based Biopolymer

Marta Domżał-Kędzia et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Polysaccharides are essential components with diverse functions in living organisms and find widespread applications in various industries. They serve as food additives, stabilizers, thickeners, and fat substitutes in the food industry, while also contributing to dietary fiber for improved digestion and gut health. Plant-based polysaccharides are utilized in paper, textiles, wound dressings, biodegradable packaging, and tissue regeneration. Polysaccharides play a crucial role in medicine, pharmacy, and cosmetology, as well as in the production of biofuels and biomaterials. Among microbial biopolymers, microbial levan, a fructose polysaccharide, holds significant promise due to its high productivity and chemical diversity. Levan exhibits a wide range of properties, including film-forming ability, biodegradability, non-toxicity, self-aggregation, encapsulation, controlled release capacity, water retention, immunomodulatory and prebiotic activity, antimicrobial and anticancer activity, as well as high biocompatibility. These exceptional properties position levan as an attractive candidate for nature-based materials in food production, modern cosmetology, medicine, and pharmacy. Advancing the understanding of microbial polymers and reducing production costs is crucial to the future development of these fields. By further exploring the potential of microbial biopolymers, particularly levan, we can unlock new opportunities for sustainable materials and innovative applications that benefit various industries and contribute to advancements in healthcare, environmental conservation, and biotechnology.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis; biopolymers; cosmetics; food industries; levan; pharmaceutical industries; polysaccharide; safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification of polysaccharides according to their origin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The structural formula of levan.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Organization of operons important in the production of levan by B. subtilis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Genes essential in levan synthesis and hydrolysis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
L-FOS and its specific prebiotic properties during digestion in humans based on [69].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Examples of levan-based nanocarriers based on [90].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gupta S., Sharma S., Kumar Nadda A., Saad Bala Husain M., Gupta A. Biopolymers from Waste Biomass and Its Applications in the Cosmetic Industry: A Review. Mater. Today Proc. 2022;68:873–879. doi: 10.1016/j.matpr.2022.06.422. - DOI
    1. Koyyada A., Orsu P. Natural Gum Polysaccharides as Efficient Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery Biopolymers. J. Drug Deliv. Sci. Technol. 2021;63:102431. doi: 10.1016/j.jddst.2021.102431. - DOI
    1. Kartik A., Akhil D., Lakshmi D., Panchamoorthy Gopinath K., Arun J., Sivaramakrishnan R., Pugazhendhi A. A Critical Review on Production of Biopolymers from Algae Biomass and Their Applications. Bioresour. Technol. 2021;329:124868. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124868. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wankhade V. Chapter 6—Animal-Derived Biopolymers in Food and Biomedical Technology. In: Pal K., Banerjee I., Sarkar P., Kim D., Deng W.-P., Dubey N.K., Majumder K., editors. Biopolymer-Based Formulations: Biomedical and Food Applications. Elsevier; Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 2020. pp. 139–152.
    1. Mohammed A.S.A., Naveed M., Jost N. Polysaccharides; Classification, Chemical Properties, and Future Perspective Applications in Fields of Pharmacology and Biological Medicine (A Review of Current Applications and Upcoming Potentialities) J. Polym. Environ. 2021;29:2359–2371. doi: 10.1007/s10924-021-02052-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources