[Chemical studies on polysaccharide of Achyeanthes bidentata]

A peptide-polysaccharide, ABAB showing immunological activity was isolated from Achyeanthes bidentata Bl. It was shown to be homogeneous by HPLC and optical rotation analysis. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 2.3 x 10(4). It composed of D-glucuronic acid, D-galactose, D-galacturonic acid, L-arabinose and L-rhamnose in molar ratio of 12:2:3:1:1. Reduction of carboxyl groups, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation and IR analysis showed that ABAB possesses a main chain composed of (1----4)-D-glucuronic acid and (1----4)-D-galacturonic acid residues. The non-reducing terminal residues in the side chains were L-arabinose and L-rhamnose. ABAB contained 24.1% of peptides composed of glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and serine.