Abstract
Abrus cantoniensis (Hance) is a popular Chinese vegetable consumed as a beverage, soup or folk medicine. To fully exploit the potential of the polysaccharide in Abrus cantoniensis, nine polysaccharide fractions of Abrus cantoniensis were isolated and purified (AP-AOH30-1, AP-AOH30-2, AP-AOH80-1, AP-AOH80-2, AP-ACl-1, AP-ACl-2, AP-ACl-3, AP-H and AP-L). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography (GC) were used to characterize these Abrus polysaccharides fractions (APF). In vitro anti-tumor and immunomodulatory activities were also investigated and compared using the rank-sum ratio (RSR) method. Results demonstrated significant differences in the structure and bioactivities among APF, which were associated to the process used for their purification. Among the APF, AP-ACl-3 yield was 613.5 mg/kg of product and consisted of rhamnose (9.8%), arabinose (8.9%), fructose (3.0%), galactose (9.9%), glucose (4.3%), galacturonic acid (3.0%) and glucuronic acid (61.1%) with a molecular weight of 4.4 × 104 Da. Furthermore, AP-ACl-3 exhibited considerable bioactivities significantly preventing the migration of MCF-7 cells and stimulating lymphocyte proliferation along with nitric oxide (NO) production of peritoneal macrophages. AP-ACl-3 could be explored as a novel potential anti-tumor and immunomodulatory agent.
Highlights
Abrus cantoniensis (Hance) belongs to the Abrus genus in the leguminosae family and has been used widely as an edible vegetable and medicinal plant in tropical areas of Asia for thousands of years
Numerous polysaccharides isolated from botanical sources such as algae and lichen have been proven to possess a wide range of biological functions such as anti-tumor, antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities [7,8,9]
The total carbohydrate content of the isolated polysaccharide fractions ranged from about 55% to 85% determined by phenol-sulfuric acid method
Summary
Abrus cantoniensis (Hance) belongs to the Abrus genus in the leguminosae family and has been used widely as an edible vegetable and medicinal plant in tropical areas of Asia for thousands of years. Numerous polysaccharides isolated from botanical sources such as algae and lichen have been proven to possess a wide range of biological functions such as anti-tumor, antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities [7,8,9]. Identifying polysaccharides with the desired biological activity is not easy due to the polydispersity of the polysaccharides along with the separation and purification difficulties [10]. These difficulties are especially common in the quest to exploit and extract natural polysaccharides from novel sources. Exploration of an appropriate purifying process is required for the novel polysaccharides
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