A neutral polysaccharide (BPN1) was obtained from blueberry by citric acid-assisted extraction followed by purification through cellulose DEAE-52 and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The average weight molecular mass (m_w) of BPN1, as determined by high-performance size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light scattering (HPSEC-MALLS) detection, was 2.991 × 10⁴ Da, the polydispersity index (PDI) was 1.163, and the molecular mass distribution ranged narrowly. Monosaccharide composition analysis performed using 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone derivatization followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that BPN1 was mainly composed of glucose, galactose, xylose and araban. The glycosidic bond configuration and linkage of BPN1 were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after methylation. Combining the obtained results with two-dimensional nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) analysis, it was inferred that the polysaccharide was composed of a backbone chain of 1→4 linked dextran, some of which were substituted at position C6 by araban, xylose and galacto-oligosaccharide. The in vitro antioxidant assays showed that BPN1 had stronger scavenging capacity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) cation and hydroxyl radicals than hot water-soluble blueberry polysaccharide. The antibacterial test showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BPN1 against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was in the range of 2.5 to 5 mg/mL, and it exerted antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli by destroying the cell membrane. This study provides a basis for the structural analysis, development and utilization of blueberry polysaccharides.

Global climate change and rapid population growth put pressure on global production of food raw materials. The traditional planting industry is affected by climate, environmental and other factors and requires a significant investment of manpower, material resources and financial resources, which limits the production scale of plant foods. Using plant tissue culture technology to obtain callus for use as food resources or food supplements may be an effective way to solve this problem. Generally, plant tissue culture is considered to be an important branch of cellular agriculture, and the use of plant tissue culture technology can not only improve the contents of secondary metabolites in plant cells, but also allow for rapid cell culture and reduce the dependence of crop growth on the natural environment. While functional components obtained from plant cell culture have been widely used in the pharmaceutical, food additive and cosmetic industries, little literature has been found on the direct production of foods from cultured plant cells. In this paper, we review the process, features and food application of plant cell culture technology, and discuss the current challenges and future prospects for the production of plant foods using this technology.