Chlorella, a green microalga, has been used as an important ingredient in food and medicine because of its excellent nutritive and functional properties. Polysaccharides, as major active ingredients of Chlorella, have attracted increasing attention due to their various health promotion activities, such as those associated with immunomodulation, antioxidation, anti-hyperlipidemia, antitumor, neuroprotection, and anti-asthmatic effect. The significance of polysaccharides from various species of the Chlorella genus has been extensively reported by the scientific community from the perspectives of extraction, structural features, biological activities, and potential uses, which need to be reviewed to improve the understanding, development and utilization of these species. Therefore, this review aims to comprehensively summarize previous and current references regarding the extraction, purification, structural characterization and biological activities of polysaccharides from Chlorella. Moreover, this review also highlights the challenges of investigation and future considerations for holistic utilization in food and medicine.

小球藻，一种绿色的微藻，由于其出色的营养和功能特性，已被用作食品和药品中的重要成分。多糖作为小球藻的主要活性成分，因其具有多种健康促进作用而受到越来越多的关注，例如与免疫调节，抗氧化，高血脂，抗肿瘤，神经保护和抗哮喘作用相关的那些。小球藻中不同种类多糖的意义科学界已从提取，结构特征，生物活性和潜在用途的角度广泛报道了该属，需要对其进行审查以增进对这些物种的了解，开发和利用。因此，本综述旨在全面总结先前和当前关于小球藻多糖的提取，纯化，结构表征和生物学活性的参考文献。此外，本次审查还强调了食品和药品整体利用方面的调查挑战和未来考虑因素。