Marshmallow -Althaea officinalis-, known as Khatmi in Iran, is a herb belonging to the Malvaceae family which is often used as a traditional medicine, especially for treatment of cough and irritation of mucous membranes. This plant is broadly distributed throughout the world, mainly in the Mediterranean, Europe, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, America, Russia, and Iran. Several chemical substances including pectin -11%-, mono- and disaccharides, saccharose -10%-, starch -25%–35%-, mucilage -5%-, flavonoids, coumarins, scopoletin, phytosterols, tannins, and many amino acids are being extracted from different parts of A. officinalis for industrial applications. Further studies have showed that an aqueous extract of A. officinalis flower has potential benefits in inflammation, gastric ulcer, and platelet aggregation with no visible adverse effects. Mucilage is a hydrocolloid, a complex polymer with the nature of a carbohydrate having branched structures and soluble hydrophilic polysaccharides, which are thick, sticky substances. Marshmallow mucilage mainly consists of galactose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, and galacturonic acid in the molar ratios 1.2:1.0:1.0:1.0, respectively. The oligosaccharides of [O]-α--galactopyranosyluronic acid---1-2--rhamnopyranose, [O]-β--glucopyranosyluronic acid---1-3-- [O]-α--galactopyranosyluronic acid---1-2- rhamnopyranose and hexasaccharide, monosaccharide, dodecasaccharide are composed of a repeating unit having the structure of a trisaccharide through position 4 of the galacturonic acid residue in marshmallow flower gum -MFG-. There is still a growing demand for new sources of hydrocolloids with specific functional properties and good price. Such material could be a potential alternative to some commercial products.