Hemicellulose from Plant Biomass in Medical and Pharmaceutical Application: A Critical Review.

Hemicellulose is the second most abundant plant polysaccharides after cellulose. Due to the non-toxicity, abundance and biodegradability, recently more and more attention has been focused on the exploration of hemicellulose as the potential substrate for the production of liquid fuels and other value-added chemicals and materials in different fields. Especially in the pharmaceutical and medical field, hemicellulose currently has aroused growing concern in immune regulation, bacteria inhibition, drug release, anti-caries, scaffold materials and anti-tumor because of its unique special physiological characteristics including biocompatibility, inhibiting cell mutation and anti-cancer effect, etc. In this paper, we introduce the application of nature hemicellulose, its degradation products, its derivatives and hemicellulose-based materials in the medical field. Their properties and use effects are also discussed in detail. Moreover, the extraction technologies of nature hemicelluloses, the preparation of hemicellulose-derived products are reviewed here briefly. The recent trends and perspectives of future development are highlighted.