Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan. After HA was approved to become a ‘new food ingredient’ in 2021， it provoked the widespread interest from both food researchers and industrial field. However， in recent years， more and more research has shown that the biological activity of HA can haveeffecton pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory aswellas pro-proliferation or anti-proliferation according to its different molecular weight. Therefore， in order to efficiently and accurately improve the application value of HA in food health industry， it is necessary to comprehensively conclude and summarize the study progress of HA in food science and technology， according to its differences in molecular weight. In views of this idea， this paper， based on the overview of developing progress of HA application， focuses on preparation， cell activity and absorptionof HA with different molecular weights. And it describes the modulatory effect of HA towards intestinal tract from two dimensions， which are homeostasis maintenance and inflammation regulation， aiming to fully explore the potential of HA in the field of nutrition and health industry.