Polyphenol-polysaccharide interactions: molecular mechanisms and potential applications in food systems – a comprehensive review

作者：Fereidoon Shahidi, Kerthika Devi Athiyappan · 发表于：Food Production Processing and Nutrition · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s43014-025-00322-3 · 被引用次数：90 · 研究领域：Polysaccharides and Plant Cell Walls、Polysaccharides Composition and Applications、Food composition and properties

Polyphenols, a major class of plant secondary metabolites, are well known for their diverse bioactive properties. It has also been established that polyphenols interact with other macromolecules, such as proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids in the food matrix. Among the primary metabolites of the plant, carbohydrates play a significant role. Polyphenols and polysaccharides form complexes upon interaction; this interaction could be through covalent or non-covalent bonds, such as electrostatic, hydrophobic, van der Waals forces, and hydrogen bonding. These polysaccharide-polyphenol complexes exhibit enhanced bioactivity and influence the digestibility of complex macronutrients (such as proteins and polysaccharides), as well as their biological efficacy, bioavailability, and stability. Despite their numerous benefits and potential applications, the underlying mechanisms of interaction and complex formation between polysaccharides and polyphenols, as well as the influence of their structural parameters, remain underexplored. This comprehensive review summarizes the basic molecular-level implications of polysaccharides and polyphenols, exploring their potential applications in the food industry, and provides a basic understanding of their occurrence in various food matrices, characteristics of both polyphenols and polysaccharides that influence their interaction mechanisms, and detection under laboratory conditions. The review aims to bridge the gap between the molecular-level un...