Extraction of Biopolymers from Nature and Their Characterization

Abstract

Biopolymers, as a sustainable and attractive material with inherent abundance and availability throughout time and around the world, are safer and ecologically friendly materials that can be utilized to replace synthetic polymers to reduce waste and pollution. Biopolymers’ features, such as biodegradability, renewability, nontoxicity, biocompatibility, flexibility, and the availability of various reactive sites, provide substantial functionality for multipurpose applications. Unique and innovative approaches to using biopolymer-based products for various applications such as pharmaceuticals, biomedical, functional foods, nutraceuticals, and the environment have aided the advancement of sustainable biotechnology and bioeconomy in recent years. The current chapter focuses on various biopolymer synthesis techniques from natural sources via conventional and bioextraction techniques. Green processes’ advantages and limitations, novel extraction techniques, yield and extraction efficiency, and related features are extensively discussed. Also, an overview of commonly used advanced characterization techniques to shed light on the relationship between the structure and property of the biopolymers, as well as achieving high-quality biopolymers and developing a cost-effective biopolymer synthesis, is presented. © 2025 WILEY-VCH GmbH.