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Updated: Sep 23, 2026
Comparative Study on the Polysaccharide Contents and Antioxidant Activities of Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis and Hippophae gyantsensis
Published on: August 15, 2025
Extraction, Purification, Structural Elucidation, and Antioxidant Assessment of the Bioactive Polysaccharides From
Hongying Ma1, Xiaotian Wang2, Zhongyang Li3
1College of Chemistry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China, xju.edu.cn.
Background:
Xinjiang apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.) are rich in bioactive polysaccharides with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. As natural antioxidants, such polysaccharides offer advantages over synthetic counterparts in mitigating ROS-related diseases. Their antioxidant depends on structural features, yet Xinjiang apricot polysaccharides remain poorly characterized. This study employs ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction, DEAE-52 purification, and multitechnique structural analysis to investigate these polysaccharides, aiming to establish their structure-activity relationship for potential functional food or therapeutic applications.
Results:
In this study, a galacturonic acid-rich heteropolysaccharide (UEDAP-4) was successfully extracted and isolated from dried apricots from Xinjiang, China. The polysaccharide is primarily composed of five monosaccharides: arabinose (Ara), rhamnose (Rha), galactose (Gal), glucose (Glc), and galacturonic acid (GalA), with a molar ratio of 28.78:20.36:6.87:5.51:38.48. The main chain of UEDAP-4 is characterized by the following structure:⟶4)-α-D-GalpA-(1 ⟶ 5)-α-L-Araf-(1 ⟶ 4)-α-D-GalpA-(1 ⟶ 2)-α-L-Araf-(1 ⟶ 3)-α-L-Araf-(1 ⟶ 4)-α-D-GalpA-(1 ⟶ 2)-α-L-Rhap-(1 ⟶ 4)-α-L-Rhap-(1 ⟶ 4)-α-D-GalpA-(1⟶, with three additional branched chains. The half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of UEDAP-4 against DPPH·, ·OH, and ABTS·+ were determined to be 5.399, 8.984, and 14.151 mg/mL, respectively. These results demonstrate that UEDAP-4 exhibits potent free radical scavenging activity, likely due to its high content of GalA and Ara.
Conclusions:
This study significantly advances our understanding of the relationship between the structural properties of polysaccharides derived from Xinjiang dried apricots and their antioxidant activity. This discovery highlights UEDAP-4 as a promising candidate for natural antioxidants, with potential applications in food preservation, pharmaceutical formulations, and functional food development.
