Chromatography in characterization of polysaccharides from medicinal plants and fungi

Abstract

Polysaccharides isolated from medicinal plants and fungi exhibit multiple pharmacological activities. The biological activities of polysaccharides depend on their chemical characteristics. However, characterization of polysaccahrides is a challenge because of their complicated structure and macromolecular mass. In this review, chromatography in characterization of polysaccharides, including physicochemical characterization (purity, molecular mass, and distribution), structural characterization (constituent monosaccharide composition and the ratio, the features of glycosidic linkages), and fingerprint of polysaccharides (acidic and enzymatic hydrolysates), from medicinal plants and fungi were reviewed and discussed according to the publications collected in Web of Science since 2007. The perspective for characterization of polysaccharides has also been described.

A novel and rapid HPGPC-based strategy for quality control of saccharide-dominant herbal materials: Dendrobium officinale, a case study

“…Qualitative and quantitative characterization of natural saccharides, especially polysaccharides, in herb materials remains a challenge due to their complicated structures and macromolecular masses [1]. Generally, isolation and purification followed by complete structural characterization, namely homogeneity and molecular weight determination, compositional monosaccharide analysis, glucosidic linkage type confirmation, and then repetitive structural unit speculation, is the most reliable approach to quality evaluation of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides in herbal materials [2].…”

Fungal Cultivation and Production of Polysaccharides

“…Moreover, the monosaccharide polymerization can occur in different positions of the sugar units, generating a wide variety of linear or branched chains with great structural variability and different functions (Da Silva et al 2006;Hu et al 2013). The secondary structure of the molecule can also vary, depending on the conformation of its components, the molecular mass, and the inter-and intra-chain interactions (Paulsen 2002).…”

“…In fact, all the phases involved in the preparation of polysaccharides point towards the fact that each isolated batch is heterogeneous in nature. In this sense, the characterization of polysaccharides is necessary for ensuring their efficacy and safety and, because of its complexity, represents a challenge for industrial processing (Hu et al 2013;Giavasis 2014). …”

Quality control of sweet medicines based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

“…Accurate identification of structures must combine with other approaches such as MALDI-TOF-MS (16), characteristic enzymatic digestion (13) and NMR (65).…”

“…The biological activities of them are closely correlated to their physico-chemical properties, such as molecular size, types and ratios of constituent monosaccharides, and features of glycosidic linkages (e.g., configuration and position of glycosidic linkages, and sequence of monosaccharides) (13). Characterization of carbohydrates is therefore necessary to ensure their efficacy and safety (14).…”