Garlic polysaccharides: A review on their extraction, isolation, structural characteristics, and bioactivities

Garlic has been considered as a source of highly promising functional food and traditional herbal medicine for thousands of years. Garlic polysaccharides is one of the important effective components of garlic, which has various bioactivities, including immune-enhancing, hepatoprotective, and antioxidant. Garlic polysaccharides is mainly composed of monosaccharides, such as Fru, Glc, and Gal, having a (2 → 1)-linked β-D-Fruf backbone with (2 → 6)-linked β-D-Fruf side chains. With great marketing potential and development prospects, garlic polysaccharides has drawn much attention from researchers worldwide. Therefore, this review aimed at providing systematic and current information on the extraction, isolation, structural characteristics, and bioactivities of garlic polysaccharides to support their further application as therapeutic agents and functional foods.