Abstract:

Polysaccharide, one kind of natural macromolecular compounds, is composed of aldose or ketose units by
glycosidic bonds. It has been detected in higher plants, algae, fungi and animal body. As the most abundant polymer in
nature, polysaccharide has a variety of pharmaceutical activities such as immunity enhancement, antitumor, antiviral, blood
sugar reduction, gastrointestinal functional protection and so on. Meanwhile, it has been widely applied in the field of drugs
and health products. For the special physicochemical property, polysaccharide has been widely used in food industry as
packaging material and functional additives. The application of polysaccharides from microorganisms, animals and plants in
food industry is summarized in this article.

Key words: polysaccharide, food, additives