Isolation and chemical characterization of polysaccharides from iwatake, gyrophora esculenta miyoshi

Abstract

A heteropolysaccharide and a β-d-glucan were isolated from a lichen, Gyrophora esculenta Miyoshi (Iwatake), by cold water and alkali extractions, respectively. The chemical properties of purified polysaccharides were examined by acid hydrolysis, methylation, and GC-MS. The heteropolysaccharide is a highly branched galactomannan-type polysaccharide, containing an α-(1→6)-linked d-mannan backbone, and the glucan is a linear (1→6)-β-d-glucan. With regard to the antitumor activity, both the galactomannan and (1→6)-β-d-glucan had moderate inhibition activities on Sarcoma 180, but lower than those of branched (1→3)-β-d-glucans. © 1996, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.