Review Article
Natural Products: A Minefield of Biomaterials
Table 5
A Snapshot of the biopolymer family.*
| Polyesters | Polysaccharides (fungal) | Lipids/surfactants | Polyhydroxyalkanoates | Pullulan | Acetoglycerides, waxes | Polylactic acid | Elsinan | Surfactants, emulsan | | Yeast glucans | | Proteins | | Polysaccharides (bacterial) | Silks | Polysaccharides (plant/algal) | Xanthan | Collagen/gelatine | Starch (amylose/amylopectin) | Dextran | Elastin | Cellulose | Gellan | Resilin | Agar | Levan | Adhesives | Alginate | Curd lan | Polyaminoacids | Carrageenam | Polygalactosamine | Soy, zein, wheat glutein, | Pectin | Cellulose (bacterial) | casein, and serum albumin | Konjac | | | Various gums (guar) | Specialty Polymers | Polyphenols | | Shellac | Lignin | Polysaccharides (animal) | Poly-γ-glutamic acid | Tannin | Chitin/chitosan | Natural rubber | Humic acid | Hyaluronic acid | Synthetic polymers from natural fats and oils (nylon from castor oils) |
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*Adapted from Herdman (1993) from p20.
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