L-arabinose is a newly developed low-caloric monosaccharide, which has many biomedical and health effects, especially intestinal sucrase inhibition effect. L-arabinose is mainly produced by chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis of hemicellulose. The taste of L-arabinose is quite similar to that of sucrose, with approximately 50% of the sweetness. As a functional additive, L-arabinose can be used in medical and pharmaceutical applications for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, chronic constipation, mineral absorption disorder and secondary bile acid formation disorder. However, L-arabinose has not been widely used in functional foods due to high price and lack of publicity and guidance. A comprehensive review of L-arabinose physicochemical properties, production, applications field, market statue and development direction is presented in this paper.