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)

*Adapted from Herdman (1993) from p20.