Advances in exopolysaccharide production from marine bacteria

Over the last two decades, a wealth of novel marine exopolysaccharides (EPS) from bacteria have been found to possess many potential applications in industrial, medical, and environmental applications due to their chemical structure, which determines their functional properties. Marine bacteria communities rely on EPS to endure the extremes of temperature, salinity, and nutrient availability found in this ecosystem. Bacterial EPS are biodegradable, generally not toxic, and renewable with potential applications in many fields. However, the major challenge faced by marine bacteria EPS for commercial application is the high production cost that limits downstream processes. Therefore, the optimization of the fermentation parameters has been researched to achieve large-scale production. This review summarize the characteristics and properties of marine bacterial EPS and evaluate some of the most important findings in the development of fermentation strategies that have shown promising results in terms of productivity improvement. (c) 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).