Phytoglycogen is a type of
glycogen extracted from plants. It is a highly branched, water-soluble
polysaccharide derived from
glucose.
[Nickels J. D., Atkinson J., Papp-Szabo E., Stanley C., Diallo S. O., Perticaroli S., Baylis B., Mahon P., Ehlers G., Katsaras J., and J. R. Dutcher (2016). Structure and Hydration of Highly-Branched, Monodisperse Phytoglycogen Nanoparticles. Biomacromolecules 17, 3, 735–743, 735-743 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5b01393]
Phytoglycogen is a highly branched polysaccharide used to store glucose in a similar way that glycogen is the glucose storage for animals. It is made up of branched, flexible chains on glucose molecules that grow similarly to synthetic Dendrimer. The special structure of the phytoglycogen allows it to have low viscosity, high water retention, as well as high stability in water, and stabilize bioactive compounds and form films on surfaces. Thus, this monodisperse nanoparticle is able to be used in many different technologies.[Xue, Jingyi & Luo, Yangchao. (2020). Properties and applications of natural dendritic nanostructures: Phytoglycogen and its derivatives. Trends in Food Science & Technology. 107. 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.11.013. ]