title: Advances on Bioactive Polysaccharides from Medicinal Plants.
abstract: In recent decades, the polysaccharides from the medicinal plants have attracted a lot of attention due to their significant bioactivities, such as anti-tumor activity, antioxidant activity, anticoagulant activity, antidiabetic activity, radioprotection effect, anti-viral activity, hypolipidemic and immunomodulatory activities, which make them suitable for medicinal applications. Previous studies have also shown that medicinal plant polysaccharides are non-toxic and show no side effects. Based on these encouraging observations, most researches have been focusing on the isolation and identification of polysaccharides, as well as their bioactivities. A large number of bioactive polysaccharides with different structural features and biological effects from medicinal plants have been purified and characterized. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the most recent developments in physiochemical, structural features and biological activities of bioactive polysaccharides from a number of important medicinal plants, such as polysaccharides from Astragalus membranaceus, Dendrobium plants, Bupleurum, Cactus fruits, Acanthopanax senticosus, Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, Aloe barbadensis Miller, and Dimocarpus longan Lour. Moreover, the paper has also been focused on the applications of bioactive polysaccharides for medicinal applications. Recent studies have provided evidence that polysaccharides from medicinal plants can play a vital role in bioactivities. The contents and data will serve as a useful reference material for further investigation, production, and application of these polysaccharides in functional foods and therapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: b Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Special Environmental Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming-Liang
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: c Department of Chemical Sciences , School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield , Huddersfield , UK.
authors.forename: Gordon A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: d School of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Hefei University of Technology , Hefei , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xue-Qiang
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zha
authors.affiliation: d School of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Hefei University of Technology , Hefei , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Han-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: e College of Food Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University , Wuhan , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang , P.R. China.|f College of Food Science and Engineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University , Nanchang , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing-En
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: d School of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Hefei University of Technology , Hefei , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shao-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: b Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Special Environmental Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming-Yong
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D064209:Phytochemicals; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011134:Polysaccharides
keywords: Medicinal plants; biological activities; chemical structure; physicochemical properties; polysaccharides