Advances in lentinan: Isolation, structure, chain conformation and bioactivities

Lentinan, a beta-(1 -> 3)-D-glucan isolated from a common edible mushroom, Lentinus edodes, is known as a biologically active macromolecules with very strong host-mediated anti-cancer activity, via activation of the human immune system. However, its widespread medicinal application is hindered by some technical difficulties in its extraction and purification, as well as a lack of thorough understanding of the structure-and-function relationship of this polysaccharide. This review aims at highlighting the different areas of research conducted on lentinan in the past 40 years, including its extraction and purification processes, the analysis of structure, the determination of its chain conformation and conformation transition in solution, as well as its rheological properties and bioactivities especially on anti-cancer treatment. About 156 literatures were cited to summarize the advancement of lentinan in the review paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.