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Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all and some . These microorganisms include which use it for their locomotion, with the direction of their movement always opposite to that of the secretion of mucilage. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Cacti (and other Succulent plant) and flax seeds are especially rich sources of mucilage.
Mucilage has a unique purpose in some carnivorous plants. The plant Genus Drosera (sundews), Pinguicula (butterworts), and others have leaves studded with mucilage-secreting glands, and use a "flypaper trap" to capture insects.
The inner bark of the Ulmus rubra, a North American tree species, has long been used as a demulcent and cough medicine, and is still produced commercially for that purpose.
Mucilage mixed with water has been used as a glue, especially for bonding paper items such as labels, , and envelope flaps. Differing types and varying strengths of mucilage can also be used for other adhesive applications, including gluing labels to metal cans, wood to china, and leather to pasteboard. During the fermentation of nattō , extracellular enzymes produced by the bacterium Bacillus natto react with soybean sugars to produce mucilage. The amount and viscosity of the mucilage are important nattō characteristics, contributing to nattō's unique taste and smell.
The mucilage of two kinds of insectivorous plants, Drosera and Pinguicula, is used for the traditional production of a variant of the yogurt-like Sweden dairy product called filmjölk.
A variety of maize grows aerial roots that produce a sweet mucus. The Sierra Mixe is a tall variety that survives in poor soils without fertilizer in Oaxaca, and the mucilage has been shown to support nitrogen fixation through bacteria that thrive in its high-sugar, low-oxygen environment.
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