title: Characterization of an acidic polysaccharide isolated from the leaves of Corchorus olitorius (Moroheiya).
abstract: An acidic polysaccharide was isolated from the water-soluble mucilage extracted from dried leaves of Corchorus olitorius, known as Moroheiya in Japan (3.0 g per 100 g). This polysaccharide showed a single peak in a Sepharose CL-6B column, and the specific rotation in H2O at 25 degrees C was +250 degrees. The polysaccharide was rich in uronic acid (65%), and consisted of rhamnose, glucose, galacturonic acid, and glucuronic acid in a molar ratio of 1.0:0.2:0.2:0.9:1.7, in addition to 3.7% of the acetyl group. A methylation analysis, Smith degradation study and fragmentation analysis suggested that this polysaccharide mainly consisted of O-4 substituted galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid, and O-2 substituted rhamnose residues, and that most of the (1-->4)-linked uronic acid residues were substituted at the O-3 position with glucuronic acid residues. This polysaccharide showed proliferative activity toward the murine splenocyte.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Life Science, Osaka City, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okai
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yuasa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Misaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D002241:Carbohydrates; D011134:Polysaccharides