ABSTRACT
Extensive studies were carried out over the past few decades in the area of microbial polysaccharides due to the beneficial properties. Evolving the opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, the cosmeceutical industry, and nutraceutical industry have been possible because of the diversity in structural features. Native to Sphingomonas genus and being a sphingan hetro-polysaccharide, gellan is obtained by fermentation only. Amongst the group of linear bio-polysaccharides, gellan has been studied extensively. Repeating units of D-glucose, D-glucuronate, and L-Rhamnose forms the tetra-saccharide. This ability of gellan to act as a polyfunctional ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry as capsule shells, swellable matrix, gelling, and thickening agent, bio-adhesive, binding agent, disintegrant has led to diverse applications. The properties of gelation for gellan have been studied critically to develop the modified drug release formulations. Improvement in properties of formulations, including oral, ophthalmic, nasal has been studied. Applications have also been extended in the areas of regenerative medicine, biotechnology, somatology, and tissue engineering. Gellan gum is under exploration for its biomimetic properties, especially for soft tissue engineering. This chapter gives an overview of the vast applications of gellan gum.
