Recent advances in the influences of drying technologies on physicochemical properties and biological activities of plant polysaccharides

AbstractPlant polysaccharides, as significant functional macromolecules with diverse biological properties, are currently receiving increasing attention. Drying technologies play a pivotal role in the research, development, and application of various foods and plant polysaccharides. The chemical composition, structure, and function of extracted polysaccharides are significantly influenced by different drying technologies (e.g., microwave, infrared, and radio frequency) and conditions (e.g., temperature). This study discusses and compares the principles, advantages, disadvantages, and effects of different drying processes on the chemical composition as well as structural and biological properties of plant polysaccharides. In most plant-based raw materials, molecular degradation, molecular aggregation phenomena along with intermolecular interactions occurring within cell wall components and cell contents during drying represent primary mechanisms leading to variations in chemical composition and structures of polysaccharides. These differences further impact their biological properties. The biological properties of polysaccharides are determined by a combination of multiple relevant factors rather than a single factor alone. This review not only provides insights into selecting appropriate drying processes to obtaining highly bioactive plant polysaccharides but also offers a fundamental theoretical basis for the structure–function relationship of these compounds.Keywords: Biological propertiesdryingmolecular mechanismsplant polysaccharidesstructural properties Authors’ contributionsHuan Guo: Conceptualization, Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review and Editing, Visualization; Hong-Yan Liu: Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review and Editing; Hang Li: Writing – Review and Editing; Ding-Tao Wu: Writing – Review and Editing; Linda L.D. Zhong: Writing – Review and Editing; Ren-You Gan: Conceptualization, Writing – Reviewing and Editing, Supervision; Hong Gao: Conceptualization, Writing – Reviewing and Editing, Supervision.Disclosure statementThe authors declare no conflict of interest.Data availabilityNo data was used for the research described in the article.Additional informationFundingThis work was financially supported by the [National Natural Science Foundation of China] under Grant [32072321]; the [Science and Technology Plan Project of Sichuan Province of China] under Grant [2022ZHXC0107]; the [Sichuan University and Luzhou City Strategic Cooperation Project] under Grant [2021CDLZ-20]; the [Sichuan University and Dazhou City Strategic Cooperation Project] under Grant [2021CDDZ-18]; the [Local Financial Funds of National Agricultural Science and Technology Center, Chengdu] under Grant [No.NASC2023ST04]; and the [Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program] under Grant [ASTIP-IUA-2023003].