Review on the preparation, biological activities and applications of curdlan and its derivatives

Curdlan have been investigated for a long time. This beta (1 -> 3)-glucan has distinctive thermal gel-forming character and is edible, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used in food industry. However, curdlan has poor solubility which limit its use and therefore, many researchers concentrate on curdlan modification and as a consequence diverse curdlan derivatives have been prepared. The initial modification purpose was to increase the solubility in water, while with further study, biological activities such as anti-cancer, anti-coagulation, anti-virus and immune-regulation were discovered. Thus curdlan and its derivatives have increasingly wide uses in different areas. In order to give a more comprehensive understanding for curdlan and its derivatives, we summarized recent advances of curdlan and its derivatives, as well as the existing problems need to be solved.