Functional biopolymers produced by biochemical technology considering applications in food engineering

Polysaccharides are widely used in foods as thickening, gelling, stabilizing, emulsifying, and water-binding agents. The majority of the polysaccharides currently employed in the food industry are derived from plants and seaweeds. Recently, microbial polysaccharides have emerged as an important set of biothickeners for foods. These biopolymers have overcome to great extent the flaws associated with the plants and seaweeds polysaccharides. This relatively new class of biopolymers has unique rheological properties because of their potential of forming very viscous solutions at low concentrations and pseudoplastic nature. This review deals with the current applications of these microbial biopolymers in the food industry with a special focus on the commonly used important exopolysaccharides in this area.