mucilage
Sign in to saveAlso known as plant gum, plant mucilage
thumb|upright=1.2|right|A sundew with a leaf bent around a fly trapped by mucilage
Research
2,372 papers- Seed Mucilage: Biological Functions and Potential Applications in Biotechnology.Plant & cell physiology · 2021
- Mucilage as a functional food hydrocolloid: ongoing and potential applications in prebiotics and nutraceuticals.Food & function · 2021
- Mucilage-based nanocarriers for targeted cancer therapy-design, functionalization, and therapeutic potential.Drug development and industrial pharmacy · 2025
- Regulation of seed coat mucilage production and modification in Arabidopsis.Plant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology · 2023
- Opuntia mucilage extraction techniques: analysis of yield and quality.Journal of the science of food and agriculture · 2025
via PubMed
~4 min read
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Occurrence
- Human uses
- Ecological implications for plants
- Plant sources
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.2|right|A sundew with a leaf bent around a fly trapped by mucilage
Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists 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 succulents) and flax seeds are especially rich sources of mucilage.