Abstract
Plant-based systems continue to play a pivotal role in healthcare, and their use has been extensively documented. Asphodelus L. is a genus comprising various herbaceous species, known by the trivial name Asphodelus. These plants have been known since antiquity for both food and therapeutic uses, especially for treating several diseases associated with inflammatory and infectious skin disorders. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of different constituents, mainly anthraquinones, triterpenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. Although extensive literature has been published on these constituents, a paucity of information has been reported regarding the carbohydrate composition, such as fructans and fructan-like derivatives. The extraction of water-soluble neutral polysaccharides is commonly performed using water extraction, at times assisted by microwaves and ultrasounds. Herein, we reported the investigation of the alkaline extraction of root-tubers of Asphodelus ramosus L., analyzing the water-soluble polysaccharides obtained by precipitation from the alkaline extract and its subsequent purification by chromatography. A polysaccharide was isolated by alkaline extraction; the HPTLC study to determine its composition showed fructose as the main monosaccharide. FT-IR analysis showed the presence of an inulin-type structure, and NMR analyses allowed us to conclude that A. ramosus roots contain polysaccharide with an inulin-type fructooligosaccharide with a degree of polymerization of 7–8.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andThe genus Asphodelus L. belongs to the Liliaceae [1] or Asphodelaceae family according to APG IV classification of 2016 [2]
A polysaccharide was isolated from the root-tubers of A. ramosus by alkaline extraction and purified by column chromatography
high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) study was performed in order to determine the monosaccharide composition of the polysaccharide after acid hydrolysis
Summary
Introduction distributed under the terms andThe genus Asphodelus L. belongs to the Liliaceae [1] or Asphodelaceae family according to APG IV classification of 2016 [2]. It is native to South Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent, which is where it is mainly distributed [3], and reaches its maximum diversity in the west of the Mediterranean, in the Iberian Peninsula conditions of the Creative Commons. Plants of genus Asphodelus have been known since antiquity for their both therapeutic and food uses. The roots mostly exhibit the presence of anthraquinones [9,10,11], while the aerial parts are mainly reported to have flavonoids and phenolic acids [12,13]. A paucity of information has been reported regarding carbohydrate composition [14,15], even though the members of Asphodelus genus are known to contain fructans [16], water-soluble carbohydrates consisting of repeating fructose. We analyzed the water-soluble polysaccharide isolated from the alkaline extract of A
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