Abstract

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (ginseng) has been widely used as a herb and functional food in the world. Polysaccharides are the main active components of ginseng. In this paper, the polysaccharides were sequentially extracted by 50 mM Na2CO3, 1 M KOH and 4 M KOH from ginseng roots treated sequentially with hot water, α-amylase and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid extraction. Na2CO3-soluble ginseng polysaccharide (NGP) was fractionated into one neutral and three acidic fractions by anion exchange and gel permeation chromatography. Fourier transform infrared, NMR and methylation analysis indicated acidic fractions in NGP were highly branched rhamnogalacturonan-I domains, with → 4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 2)-α-Rhap-(1 → disaccharide repeating units as backbone and β-1,4-galactan, α-1,5/1,3,5-arabinan and type II arabinogalactan as side chains. 1-KGP (1 M KOH-soluble ginseng polysaccharide) and 4-KGP (4 M KOH-soluble ginseng polysaccharide) were mainly composed of hemicellulose besides starch-like polysaccharides and minor pectin. Antibody detection, enzymic hydrolysis, high performance anion exchange chromatography and methylation analysis demonstrated xylan was the major component in 1-KGP, while xyloglucan was predominant in 4-KGP. Comparing the polysaccharides obtained by different solvent extractions, we have a comprehensive understanding about total ginseng polysaccharides.

Highlights

  • IntroductionA. Meyer (ginseng) is a well-known herb and has been widely used as functional food in the world

  • Ginseng roots were sequentially extracted by using hot water, α-amylase and EDTA solution, yielding polysaccharide fractions named WGP, WGPE and EGP, respectively [7,12,13]

  • Ginseng roots which had been extracted by the above-mentioned three solvents were further extracted in succession by using 50 mM Na2CO3 solution, 1 M KOH and 4 M KOH solution, respectively, producing polysaccharide fractions named Na2CO3-soluble ginseng polysaccharide (NGP), 1 M KOH-soluble ginseng polysaccharide (1-KGP) and 4 M KOH-soluble ginseng polysaccharide (4-KGP)

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Summary

Introduction

A. Meyer (ginseng) is a well-known herb and has been widely used as functional food in the world. Polysaccharides are the major active components of ginseng [1]. Many studies have been conducted on ginseng polysaccharides.

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