Carboxymethylated beta-glucan derived from Poria cocos with biological activities.

Water-insoluble beta-(1-3)-D-glucan isolated from the sclerotium of Poria cocos hardly exhibits biological activity. Therefore, it is advantageous to produce a value-added product from P. cocos. We extracted the beta-(1-3)-D-glucan from the sclerotium of P. cocos and synthesized a carboxymethylated derivative. The structural and physiological properties of the derivative were investigated. The carboxymethylation of the polysaccharides was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the degree of substitution (DS) and molecular weight were obtained by the potentiometric titration and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis, respectively. The carboxymethylation caused the enhancement of in vitro bile acid binding capacity of the polysaccharides, which would be explained by the improved water solubility and structural changes caused by carboxymethylation. In addition, in vitro antiradical capacity of the derivative was observed by the method of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH).