Exopolysaccharides fulfil protective functions and allow bacteria live in the
communities, single or mixed, by facilitating adhesion to surfaces and to each other.
Microbes prefer to exist in the form of a biofilm. The term biofilm was introduced
in 1978 and is the group of microorganisms surrounded by extracellular, highly
hydrated mucus, which allows adhesion on various surfaces and adhesion of cells to
each other [1]. The extracellular slime owes its character mainly due to the presence
of exopolysaccharides. Bacteria living in biofilms, have a high resistance to external
factors, such as changes in temperature, pH, humidity, oxygenation, presence of
bacteriocins, antibodies or antibiotics. They may be up to 1,000 times more resistant
to antibiotics than planktonic forms. They can be synthesized inside and outside
bacteria cell. The structure of the bacterial exopolysaccharide is very diverse, but
very often, due to the presence of uronic acid residues, or non-sugar organic acids as
pyruvic acid, succinic acid, as well as residues of inorganic acids such as phosphoric
acid or sulfuric acid, they are negatively charged particles. In addition, a characteristic
of most of the exopolysaccharides (EPS) is their enormous molecular mass of
up to several million g/mol [11]. Thanks to its rheological properties, ease of isolation,
and often biodegradable antioxidant activity extracellular polysaccharides are
increasingly used in industry as a gelling agents, hardening and thickening agents,
emulsifiers, food coatings and pharmaceutical products. In addition, they can be
used as bandages, anti-cancer agents, cholesterol-lowering, antiulcer or immunomodulators
[20–27]. This article discusses in details the selected exopolysaccharides
such as xanthan, gellan, exopolysaccharides of lactic acid bacteria, dextran, bacterial
cellulose, alginic acid, hyaluronic acid, mannans.
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