为酸性粘多糠类物质。略带咸味，无臭，无味，易吸湿，易溶于水，不溶于乙醇、醋酸和丙酮等有机溶剂，遇水即膨胀或成黏浆，对热较不稳定。本品的水溶液具有粘稠性，加热不凝结。 Chondroitin, a glucosaminoglycan (GAG), is a polysaccharide chain of alternating units of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and glucuronic acid (GlcA) that can be sulfated on the either or both GalNAc and GlcA units. Chondroitin and its sulfates are frequently attached to proteins to form proteoglycans. Chondroitin sulfate is used in a wide variety of areas of research such as bioengineering. Chondroitin sulfate may be used as a biomaterial copolymer or surface derivatization reagent in the development of drug delivery vehicles, tissue engineering devices and bioscaffolds. Chondroitin sulfate may be used for the development of biocompatible structures such as hydrogels, sponges, biofilms, microspheres and micelles.