Plant polysaccharides-based nanoparticles for drug delivery

Recently natural polysaccharides have gained attention for the design of nanoparticles (NPs) for the effective delivery of drugs. These polysaccharides have several advantages such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and low cytotoxicity. Several studies have reported nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems showing effective localization of drugs into the target site. It provides a combined effect toward the development of biodegradable/biocompatible NPs with high potential of passive/active targeting and reduced undesirable side effects of the drug. Additionally, the size of NPs plays a key role in the use of these structures as drug/gene carriers as well as trans-membrane transporters. The plant polysaccharides also provide a large number of reactive groups, and specific targeting can be achieved by surface modification of NPs with targeting ligands. Moreover, the mucoadhesive properties of these polysaccharides could be used to prolong the retention time of drug delivery at the site of absorption. This chapter deals with the classification of polysaccharides, their advantages and disadvantages. It includes polysaccharides such as pectin, guar gum, alginate, gum tragacanth, gum acacia, locust bean gum, cellulose, starch, gum karaya, and cashew gum. This chapter also discusses the application of polysaccharides-based NPs in the treatment of cancer.