A novel neutral polysaccharide having activity on the reticuloendothelial system from the root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis.

A neutral polysaccharide, named glycyrrhizan UC, was isolated from the root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer. It was homogeneous on electrophoresis and gel chromatography, and its molecular mass was estimated to be 69,000. Glycyrrhizan UC is composed of L-arabinose:D-galactose:D-glucose:L-rhamnose in the molar ratio of 10:30 27:1. Methylation analysis, carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance and periodate oxidation studies indicated its structural feature as an arabino-3,6-galacto-glucan type polysaccharide.