Application of gellan gum in pharmacy and medicine

Over the past few decades, microbial polysaccharides have been under intense investigation due to their advantageous physicochemical properties. A great structural diversity of these biomolecules has led to multiple applications in food industry, personal care products, pharmacy and medicine. Currently, one of the most widely studied and fully described member of this group is gellan. It is a linear polymer produced by Sphingomonas elodea. A polymer chain of gellan consists of a tetrasaccharide repeating unit of L-rhamnose, D-glucose and D-glucuronate. So far most of the studies have been focused on the application of gellan as a food ingredient. However, due to the unique structure and beneficial properties, gellan is currently described as a potent multifunctional additive for various pharmaceutical products. Specific gelling properties in different media led to the development of controlled release forms based on gellan. Various formulations have been studied including oral, ophthalmic, nasal and other. Recent reports suggest that gellan-based materials can also be used in regenerative medicine, stomatology or gene transfer technology. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.