Research progress on extraction, purification, structure and biological activity of Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides.

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo (D. officinale) is a traditional medicinal and food homologous plant that has been used for thousands of years in folk medicine and nutritious food. Recent studies have shown that polysaccharide is one of the main biologically active components in D. officinale. D. officinale polysaccharides possess several biological activities, such as anti-oxidant, heptatoprotective, immunomodulatory, gastrointestinal protection, hypoglycemic, and anti-tumor activities. In the past decade, polysaccharides have been isolated from D. officinale by physical and enzymatic methods and have been subjected to structural characterization and activity studies. Progress in extraction, purification, structural characterization, bioactivity, structure-activity relationship, and possible bioactivity mechanism of polysaccharides D. officinale were reviewed. In order to provide reference for the in-depth study of D. officinale polysaccharides and the application in functional food and biomedical research.

Effect of plasma-activated water on the structure and in vitro digestibility of waxy and normal maize starches during heat-moisture treatment.

The combined effects of plasma-activated water (PAW) and heat-moisture treatments (HMT) on the structure, physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of waxy (WMS) and normal maize starches (NMS) were investigated. X-ray diffraction results revealed that the relative crystallinity of starches treated with PAW-HMT increased without crystalline type transition compared to DW-HMT. Through the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, the short-range order of starches treated with PAW-HMT was improved. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis shown that PAW-HMT increased gelatinization temperatures for NMS while decreasing gelatinization temperatures for WMS. The solubility of starches treated with PAW-HMT was higher than that of DW-HMT while the swelling power decreased. Importantly, the resistant starch (RS) content of starches treated by PAW-HMT increased compared to the starches treated by DW-HMT or native starch. This study provides a novel green method to modify the structure, lower starch digestibility and improve the RS content of starch.

Structural characterization of a galacturonic acid-rich polysaccharide from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao.

Jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.) have been widely used as a health food and medicinal herb in oriental medicine. In the present study, a novel galacturonic acid-rich polysaccharide (PZMP3-2) was isolated from Zizyphus Jujuba cv. Muzao through hot water extraction, ethanol precipitation, and purification with DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephacryl S-300 column chromatography. The chemical structures of PZMP3-2 were elucidated by methylation analysis, along with HPGPC, FT-IR spectroscopy, GC-MS, 1D NMR spectroscopy, and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Its morphological properties were further characterized by SEM, AFM, and XRD. Monosaccharide compositional analysis of PZMP3-2 revealed the presence of rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, and galacturonic acid at a molar ratio of 1.74:2.00: 1.00:18.69, and the HPGPC data demonstrated an average molecular weight of 58.21 kDa. Structural and linkage analysis by GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy suggested that PZMP3-2 was a homogalacturonan (HG)-like pectic polysaccharide branched at C-2 with some Araf and Rhap residues. Such unique structure of PZMP3-2 may indicate distinct bioactivities and further application in food and even clinic.