Title
Gellan. Pharmaceutical medical and cosmetic applications
Authors
C. E. IURCIUC (TINCU) C. LUNGU P. MARTIN and M. POPA

Received November 26, 2015
Published Volume 51 Issue 3-4 March-April
Keywords gellan, pharmaceutical applications, medical applications, tissular engineering applications, cosmetic applications

Abstract
Ever since it was approved by the FDA as a food additive in 1992, gellan, a polyanionic exopolysaccharide from microbial culture, has become a very important polymer for biological applications. The area of its applications has rapidly expanded in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields, food, medicine, tissue engineering and biotechnology. This paper aims to expand the previous review that presents the use of gellan in the food industry and make an overview of other polysaccharide bioapplications. Considering the interest it has attracted in recent years, the paper details the use of gellan in pharmacy, medicine and tissue engineering. Also, other gellan bioapplications in cosmetics, biotechnology, microbiology are concisely presented.