Recent trends in chemical modification and antioxidant activities of plants-based polysaccharides: A review

• Plants-based polysaccharides were easily and successfully modified with the help of sulfation, phosphorylation, carboxymethylation and selenization. • Modification methods of plants-based polysaccharides were well differentiated according to their reported protocols. • Antioxidant activities of plants-based polysaccharides were improved significantly ( p < 0.05) after chemical modification. The increasing consumption of plants-based polysaccharides in various industries is demanding to boost their structural and functional attributes. Functional attributes including the antioxidant behavior of plants-based polysaccharides are much important due to their meaningful transfer of value-added properties in different practical commodities. This review is aimed to attract the attention of researchers to boost the antioxidant activities of plants-based polysaccharides by using different chemical modification methods. In this review, different modification methods of plants-based polysaccharides were particularized to make ease to select the competent modification protocols and to analyze the resulted antioxidant potential of native and modified polysaccharides. The antioxidant activities of plants-based polysaccharides were increased significantly after chemical modification. These significant improvements in antioxidant activities of plants-based polysaccharides suggested to employ them in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products to improve their healthy life.