Ulva ( Enteromorpha ) Polysaccharides and Oligosaccharides: A Potential Functional Food Source from Green-Tide-Forming Macroalgae

The high-valued utilization of (previously known as ) bioresources has drawn increasing attention due to the periodic blooms of world-wide green tide. The polysaccharide is the main functional component of and exhibits various physiological activities. The oligosaccharide as the degradation product of polysaccharide not only possesses some obvious activities, but also possesses excellent solubility and bioavailability. Both polysaccharides and oligosaccharides hold promising potential in the food industry as new functional foods or food additives. Studies on polysaccharides and oligosaccharides are increasing and have been the focus of the marine bioresources field. However, the comprehensive review of this topic is still rare and do not cover the recent advances of the structure, isolation, preparation, activity and applications of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides. This review systematically summarizes and discusses the recent advances of chemical composition, extraction, purification, structure, and activity of polysaccharides as well as oligosaccharides. In addition, the potential applications as new functional food and food additives have also been considered, and these will definitely expand the applications of oligosaccharides in the food and medical fields.