Gellan Gum-Based Films

Gellan gum is an anionic extracellular biodegradable microbial-derived polymer which finds application in food and biomedical and pharmaceutical industry. Gellan gum and its derivatives like LA (low acyl) and HA (high acyl) varieties have varied functional properties as thickening agents, stabilizers, emulsifiers and edible films. Apart from heat-sealing properties, biocompatibility and adherence properties, it shows and exhibits aroma retention, three-dimensional bioprinting capabilities and microbial sorption and is nontoxic in nature. However, gellan gum gels show poor mechanical properties such as lack in toughness. It has been approved as a hydro-colloidal agent and as a food additive, first by Japan and later in the United States and Europe, and sold as deacetylated and acetylated forms that differ in their structures and properties. Due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, gellan is used in the food industry as an encapsulating agent, as a nutraceutical, in biochemical technologies, in pharmaceuticals and in medicine.