Effects of chemically reactive species generated in plasma treatment on the physico-chemical properties and biological activities of polysaccharides: An overview

Plasma technology as an advanced oxidation technology, has gained increasing interest to generate numerous chemically reactive species during the plasma discharge process. Such chemically reactive species can trigger a chain of chemical reactions leading to the degradation of macromolecules including polysaccharides. This review primarily summarizes the generation of various chemically reactive species during plasma treatment and their effects on the physico-chemical properties and biological activities of polysaccharides. During plasma treatment, the type of chemically reactive species that play a major role is related to equipment, working gases and types of polysaccharides. The primary chain structure of polysaccharides did not changed much during the plasma treatment, other physico-chemical properties might be changed, such as molecular weight, solubility, hydrophilicity, rheological properties, gel properties, crystallinity, elemental composition, glycosidic bonding, and surface morphology. Additionally, the biological activities of plasma-treated polysaccharides including antibacterial, antioxidant, immunological, antidiabetic activities, and seed germination promotion activities in agriculture could be improved. Therefore, plasma treatment has the potential application in preparing polysaccharides with enhanced biological activities.