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Isolation of Microbial Polysaccharides

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Polysaccharides of Microbial Origin

Abstract

Microbial polysaccharides comprise of cellular, structural, and exopolysaccharides (EPS). Microbial EPS are a structurally very diverse class of polymers. A number of these molecules have found applications in different fields that extend from medicine, food, and cosmetics, on the one hand, to construction, drilling, and chemical industry, on the other hand. In view of this, identification of new microbial strains that produce maximum amount of novel polysaccharide has been a major area in the recent past. Observing the fact that nearly all microbes have the genetic and metabolic machinery for the production of polysaccharides under specific conditions, there is a need for high throughput screening techniques helpful for identifying novel variants of microbial EPS with properties superior to the already described ones, or even totally new ones. For the optimum cost-effective use of EPS in various applications, not only we should have EPS producing microbial strains but the process optimization for the isolation, extraction, and purification is also very important so as to get purified EPS with its native structure. A number of physical and chemical methods available for this purpose are discussed in this chapter. No single method is suitable for different microbial EPS, and one has to select and optimize a suitable method for a particular EPS/microorganism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala, India

    Namita Jindal, Jasvirinder Singh Khattar & Davinder Pal Singh

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  1. Namita Jindal
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  2. Jasvirinder Singh Khattar
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  3. Davinder Pal Singh
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. 3Bs Research Grp, Zona Indus da Gan, University of Minho, BARCO GMR, Portugal

    Joaquim Oliveira

  2. 3Bs Research Grp, Zona Indus da Gan, University of Minho, BARCO GMR, Portugal

    Hajer Radhouani

  3. 3Bs Research Grp, Zona Indus da Gan, University of Minho, BARCO GMR, Portugal

    Rui L. Reis

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Jindal, N., Khattar, J.S., Singh, D.P. (2021). Isolation of Microbial Polysaccharides. In: Oliveira, J., Radhouani, H., Reis, R.L. (eds) Polysaccharides of Microbial Origin. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35734-4_27-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35734-4_27-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35734-4

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