Curdlan based hydrogels

Curdlan is an exopolysaccharide that is composed of repeating glucose monomers which are linked by β-1,3 glycosidic bonds. Curdlan was accidentally discovered by Harada and his coworkers in 1962 from Alcaligenes faecalis var myxogenes 10C3. Since curdlan has characteristic physicochemical and rheological properties, it has attained demand in recent years. However, range of curdlan's applications can be broadened by chemically altering curdlan to make nanocomposites, grafted curdlan, and hydrogels. This chapter specifically focuses on curdlan-based hydrogels and its utilization in drug delivery applications and tissue engineering. Hydrogels are basically three-dimensional, hydrophilic polymeric matrices that swell in an aqueous medium. Curdlan's gelation property can be attributed to its structure which gets condensed at higher temperatures. Curdlan hydrogels are soft, flexible, and tough concurrently. These hydrogels have shown potential applications in oral drug delivery, wound infection dressing material, dental care, and bone and tissue scaffolds in tissue engineering studies.