Table 3.

Main polysaccharides from natural sources with antimicrobial and antiviral potential.

Polysaccharides	Source		Biological Activity	Species	References
Alginate/alginic acid	Seaweed		Antiviral	HIV-1, HPV, DENV, HSV	[257,258,259]
Almond gum	Plant		Antibacterial	Bacillus thuringiensis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes	[260]
Carrageenan	Seaweed		Antibacterial	Chlamydia trachomatis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa	[257,258,261,262,263,264,265]
			Antiviral	HPV, HSV-1, HSV-2, HIV, HRV, Influenza A, DENV-2, DENV-3, VZV, RABV, EV71, SARS-CoV-2
Ulvan	Seaweed		Antibacterial	Enterobacter cloace, Escherichia coli	[262,266]
			Antiviral	NDV, JEV
Rhodophyta Galactans	Seaweed		Antiviral	HSV-1 and HSV-2, DENV-2, HIV-1 and HIV-2, HAV, HPV, DENV	[257,259,267]
Calcium spirulan	Cyanobacteria		Antiviral	HSV-1, HCMV, Influenza A, Coxsackie virus, MV, HIV-1, PV, Mumps virus, HPV, DENV	[257,259,268]
Nostoflan	Cyanobacteria		Antiviral	HSV-1, HSV-2, HCMV, Influenza A	[257,259,269,270,271]
Chitin/chitosan	Animal		Antibacterial	Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Shigella dysenteriae, Bacteroides fragilis	[272,273]
Dextran	Bacteria		Antiviral	HPV	[258,266,274]
			Antifungal	Candida albicans
Fucoidan	Seaweed		Antibacterial	Listeria monocytogenes, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus sobrinus, Strongyloides ratti, Streptococcus criceti, Streptococcus anginosus, Streptococcus gordonii, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis	[95,257,262,267,271,275,276]
			Antiviral	HIV, HSV-1, HSV-2, DENV, HCMV, NDV, SARS-CoV-2
			Antifungal	Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucor sp.
Ginseng’s polysaccharide	Plant		Antibacterial	Helicobacter pylori, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae	[277,278]
			Antifungal	Candida albicans
			Antiviral	H1N1 Influenza virus, H5N1 Influenza vírus, HIV, HBV, RSV
Heparin	Animal		Antiviral	HPV, SARS-CoV-2	[258,279,280,281]
Laminarin	Seaweed		Antibacterial	Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium	[257,259]
			Antiviral	HBV, HIV-1
Lentinan	Fungi		Antiviral	SARS-CoV-2	[282]
Levan		Bacteria	Antiviral	(HPAI) A(H5N1), ad40	[283]
Pectin	Plant		Antibacterial	Citrobacter sp., Salmonella sp., Enterobacter sp., Shigella sp., Proteus sp., Klebsiella sp.	[256]
Polygonum multiflorum’s polysaccharide	Plant		Antiviral	Coronavirus	[284]
Ganoderma polysaccharides	Fungi		Antibacterial	Erwinia carotovora, Bacillus cereus, Acinetobacter aerogenes, Acrobacter aerogenes, Arthrobacter citreus, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium insidiosum, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Clostridium pasteurianum, Micrococcus roseus, Mycobacterium phlei, Staphylococcus aureus	[285]
			Antifungal	Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus niger
Xylan	Plant		Antibacterial	Klebsiella pneumoniae	[286]
			Antiviral	HSV

HIV—Human immunodeficiency virus, HPV—Human papillomavirus, DENV—Dengue virus, HSV—Herpes simplex virus, HRV—Human Rhinovirus, VZV—Varicella zoster vírus, RABV—Rabies virus, EV—Enterovirus, SARS-CoV-2—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2, NDV—Newcastle disease vírus, JEV—Japanese encephalitis virus, HAV—Hepatitis A, HCMV—Human cytomegalovirus, MV—measles virus, PV—Poliovirus, HBV—Hepatitis B virus, RSV—respiratory syncytial virus, (HPAI) A(H5N1)—Highly Pathogenic Asian Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus, ad40—Adenovirus type 40.