New frontiers in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics for kefiran, a unique and versatile biopolymer

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for food-derived polysaccharides in materials research, due to increasing concerns with synthetic biopolymers. Kefiran, is a unique polysaccharide produced exogenously by a member of the Lactobacillus sp., found ubiquitously in kefir grains. Recently, a lot of interest has been focused on this edible biopolymer, which is a water-soluble branching glucogalactan with nearly equal quantities of D-glucose and D-galactose in a chain sequence. Kefiran has been established as safe for human use, in addition to having many other advantageous characteristics such as, anti-microbial, anti-tumor and wound healing properties. Apart from this, it also has moisturizing and antioxidant effects, which makes it ideal for pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical applications. This review aims to focus on the kefiran properties while providing a broad overview of its potential applications in the growing pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.