Table 4.

Applications of γ-PGA and its derivatives

Field	Applications	Details	Ref.
Food industry	Food supplement	Promotion of absorption of bioavailable minerals, such as Ca2+	[68]
	Texture enhancer	Enhancing the rheological and thermal properties, and reducing the hardness of wheat bread	[98]
	Oil-reducing agent	Reducing oil uptake during deep-fat frying	[99]
	Cryoprotectant	The γ-PGA with 20 kDa could have higher antifreeze activities than high antifreeze agents like glucose	[11]
	Thickener	Enhancing viscosity for fruit juice beverage, sports drinks	[1]
	Animal feed additives	Increasing egg-shells strength; decreasing body fat, etc	[1]
Medicine	Metal chelator	Removal of heavy metals and radionuclides	[100]
	Drug carrier/deliverer	Improvement of anticancer; nanoparticle medicine	[101]
	Gene vectors	Use for gene therapy	[102]
	Tissue engineering	Possessing the better mechanical properties, such as easily removed, the more hydrophilic and cytocompatible	[103]
	Biological adhesive	Substitutes of fibrin with the better lung adhesion and air-leak sealing	[104]
Bioremediation	Biopolymer flocculant	Substitution for petro-chemically synthesized flocculants, such as polyacrylamide	[70]
	Metal chelates	Removal of heavy metals and radionuclides	[105]
	Dye removal	Effectively and circularly removing basic dyes from aqueous solution	[71]
Others	Moisturizer	Improving the qualities of skincare and hair care products	[72]
	Biocontrol agent	Increasing the nutrient consumption as well as growth of seedlings	[106]
	Biodegradable plastic	Use in biodegradable plastics with good thermoplastic property	[7]
	Antibacterial activity	Its derivatives have antibacterial activity against Salmonella enteritidis, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus	[107]
	Functional membranes	Separation of metal ions; enantioselection of amino acids	[77]
	Protective effect	γ-PGA has a unique protective effect on phage particles	[108]