Polysaccharides from lichens: structural characteristics and biological activity.

Lichens have been used for medicinal purposes throughout the ages, and beneficial claims have to some extent been correlated with their polysaccharide content. Of 13,500 lichen species growing worldwide, less than 100 species have been investigated for polysaccharide content. Lichen polysaccharides are mainly of three different structural types: beta-glucans, alpha-glucans, and galactomannans. In addition, a few complex heteroglycans have recently been described, such as thamnolan, a water-soluble, immunologically active heteroglycan with a novel rhamnopyranosylgalactofuranan type of structure. A number of investigations have been carried out on biological effects of lichen polysaccharides, most notably antitumour, immunomodulating, antiviral, and memory-enhancing effects. The current review summarizes present knowledge on the structural characteristics and biological activity of lichen polysaccrides.