Structural characteristics of water-soluble polysaccharides from Rabdosia serra (MAXIM.) HARA leaf and stem and their antioxidant capacities.

Water-soluble polysaccharides of Rabdosia serra leaf and stem were fractionated by ultrafiltration and DEAE-Sepharose fast flow chromatogram to obtain water (RSLP-I and RSSP-I), 0.1M NaCl (RSLP-II and RSSP-II) and 0.2M NaCl (RSLP-III and RSSP-III) eluates. Their molecular weights were determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography. Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that the water eluates comprised of rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucose and galactose. The ascending percentage of galactose and descending percentage of glucose in the eluates were observed with the increase of NaCl concentration. The branched RSLP-I and RSSP-I were composed mainly of →6)-Glcp-(1→, →6)-Galp-(1→, and →5)-Araf-(1→ residues with the ratio of 15.0:4.2:3.8 and 5.5:6.4:3.5, respectively. However, a low level of 1,6-linked glucosyl was observed in RSLP-II, RSSP-II, RSLP-III and RSSP-III. The structural characteristics were further analysed by infrared spectrophotometry. The purified leaf and stem polysaccharides possessed moderate antioxidant capacities.