Review on production, characterization and applications of microbial levan

Levan is a homopolymer of fructose naturally obtained from both plants and microorganisms. Microbial levans are more advantageous, economical and industrially feasible with numerous applications. Bacterial levans are much larger than those produced by plants with multiple branches and molecular weights ranging from 2 to 100 million Da. However levans from plants generally have molecular weights ranging from about 2000 to 33,000 Da. Microbial levans have wide range of applications in food, medicine, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and commercial industrial sectors. With excellent polymeric medicinal properties and ease of production, microbial levan appear as a valuable and versatile biopolymer of the future. The present article summarizes and discusses the most essential properties of bioactive microbial levan and recent developments in its production, characterization and the emerging applications in health and industry. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.