Chemical properties and anti-complementary activities of polysaccharide fractions from roots and leaves of Panax ginseng.

Water-soluble and alkaline-soluble polysaccharide fractions, prepared from roots and leaves of PANAX GINSENG C.A. Meyer, were fractionated into strongly acidic, weakly acidic, and neutral polysaccharide fractions by cetyltrimethyammonium bromide, respectively. The roots contained a larger amount of crude polysaccharides than the leaves. These polysaccharide fractions showed different chemical properties, and it was suggested that the roots mainly contained pectins and glucans whereas the leaves mainly contained pectins and heteroglycans. The three water-soluble polysaccharide fractions from the leaves showed higher anti-complementary activity than all corresponding fractions from the roots. However, the three alkaline-soluble polysaccharide fractions from the leaves showed weak activity. Strongly acidic polysaccharide fractions from either roots or leaves decreased the activity after the treatment with periodate indicating the carbohydrate moiety may contribute to the activity.