Unlocking the potential of functional food polysaccharides: The zebrafish model as a revolutionary high-throughput...

Functional food polysaccharides (FFPs) offer significant health benefits, but their development is hampered by the limitations of cell-based models and the high cost of mammalian studies. The zebrafish model has emerged as a powerful screening platform, bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo research by combining whole-organism biology with high-throughput capabilities. This review details a systematic zebrafish screening framework, covering model selection, polysaccharide administration routes, and multi-level activity assessment. We consolidate evidence of its utility in evaluating FFPs across key areas: immunomodulation, metabolic homeostasis, gut health, neuroprotection, and anti-tumor activity. While acknowledging translational challenges like anatomical differences, we summarize an integrated validation pipeline combining zebrafish, human cell models, and rodent studies to de-risk clinical development. Finally, we highlight how emerging technologies such as AI and CRISPR will further enhance mechanistic studies. We conclude that zebrafish are a cost-effective and efficient tool for accelerating the discovery of evidence-based functional foods derived from bioactive polysaccharides.