Polysaccharides in Fungi. I. Purification and Characterization of Acidic Heteroglycans from Aqueous Extract of Tremella fuciformis BERK

Abstract

Polysaccharides have been isolated from the fruit bodies of Tremella fuciformis BERK, which grows in Japan and China. Some chemical and physical properties of these polysaccharides (AC and BC : from Chinese fungus ; AJI and BJ : from Japanese fungus) were examined. The polysaccharides were homogeneous as judged by gelfiltration (Sepharose 4B), electrophoresis (Zone and Tiselius), and ultracentrifugal analysis. These polysaccharides are acidic heteroglycans composed mainly of xylose, glucuronic acid and mannose, and contain acetyl groups in their molecules (the molar ratios of them are given in Table II). The chemical properties of BC were closely similar to those of BJ in the numerical values of elemental analyses, component sugar content and acetyl content. However, significant differences were observed between BC and BJ in the physical properties, such as intrinsic viscosity, sedimentation coefficient and molecular weight.