Microbial Exo-polysaccharides and Biotechnology

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Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Mechanisms of Microbial Exo-polysaccharides.....................................................................................2
Applications of Microbial Exo-polysaccharides......................................................................................3
Food industry.....................................................................................................................................3
Pharmaceutical Industry and Health Aspect......................................................................................3
Biosynthesis of polysaccharides........................................................................................................4
Use of xanthan gum in the food industries........................................................................................5
Advantages and disadvantages of Microbial Exo-polysaccharides........................................................5
Advantages........................................................................................................................................5
Disadvantages....................................................................................................................................6
Ethical issues of EPS...............................................................................................................................6
Role of biotechnology............................................................................................................................6
Examples...............................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The EPS is developed and produced with the help of diverse group of the microbial
process which are rapidly emerging as advanced biomaterial (Freitas, Alves, and Reis,
2011). Due to their complex structure and process, the microbial exo-polysaccharides
identifies the large range of commercial applications in many areas like food, non-food,
packaging, and medicine. It is observed that such kinds of biotechnology systems are
linked with the large value applications and they received considerable research
attention in recent decades. The aim of this essay is to understand the concept of
microbial EPS and their different applications in both food and non-food sectors. This
essay is divided into main four sections such as mechanism and applications of EPS,
pros and cons, ethical issues and importance of biotechnology. However, only a few
microbial EPS systems are used in the field of biotechnology due to their several
advantages such as low cost process, more effective, low production cost and many
more.
The microbial exo- polysaccharides are defined as the renewable biological system
which is one of the most important parts of the polymeric material. Term biotechnology
is the part of biology which includes the living systems and organisms to design and
implement the products. It is also defined as the technology which is used by the
biological system to modify and develop products form particular uses.
Mechanisms of Microbial Exo-polysaccharides
The microbial EPS is used to evaluate polymers developed by the biological systems and
process which are not synthesized chemically. Such kind of biological systems
developed from the biological materials for examples sugars, amino acids, and natural
fats and it can be found as linked to the surface of the cell or extracted from the
fermentation medium (Nwodo, Green, and Okoh, 2012). The microbial EPSs are
categorized into various categories such as capsular polysaccharides, levan, alginate,
intracellular storage EPS, and cellulose. The recent study analyzed that the microbial
polysaccharides are developed with the help of microorganisms and secreted out of the
cells which are known as exopolysaccharides (Suresh Kumar, Mody, and Jha, 2007).
They have the potential to secure and protect the cell, adhesion of bacteria and