Pullulan: Properties, Synthesis, and Applications

Pullulan is a water‐soluble extracellular polysaccharide, which consists of linear chains ofd‐glucopyranosyl units that alternate regularly between one (1→6)‐α‐dand two (1→4)‐α‐dlinkages, or alternatively a linear polymer of maltotriosyl units connected by (1→6)‐α‐dlinkages. Bauer in 1938 was the first to observe the polysaccharide produced by theAureobasidium pullulansfungus. This article reviews the physical, chemical, and biochemical properties of pullulan. Practical aspects such as laboratory‐ and industrial‐scale production as well as food, industry, and medical applications of pullulans and their derivatives are also discussed.