Isolation and structural analysis of polysaccharides from the sclerotium of Poria cocos Wolf

Five polysaccharides (PC1, PC2, PC2-A, PC3 and PC4) were isolated from a fresh sclerotium of Poria cocos by using 0.9% NaCl aqueous solution, hot water, 0.5 mol/L NaOH aqueous solution and 88% formic acid, respectively, The components and structures of the polysaccharides were analyzed by IR, GC, HPLC,C-13 NMR and H-1 NMR, The polysaccharides of PC1, PC2 and PC2-A consist of D-glucose, D-xylose, D-mannose and D-galactose, and the D-glucose content increases with the progress of isolation process, The PC1 and PC2-A contain glucuronic acid. The polysaccharide PC3 contains mainly linear beta-(1 -->3)-D-glucan, and is the major fraction of Poria cocos polysaccharides, The PC4 is composed of beta-(1-->3)-D-glucan with a few of braching and glucuronic acid.