Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Codonopsis pilosula Glucofructan: Optimization, Structure, and Immunoregulatory Activity

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 927
• Main Authors: Ji, Hai-Yu, Yu, Juan, Jiao, Jian-Shuang, Dong, Xiao-Dan, Yu, Sha-Sha, Liu, An-Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.02.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: C. pilosula glucofructan; Chromatography; Codonopsis - chemistry; Codonopsis pilosula; Cytokines; Cytotoxicity; Dialysis; Food industry; Fructans - pharmacology; Glucose - analogs & derivatives; Immunoregulation; immunoregulatory activity; Immunostimulants; Interleukin 6; Low molecular weights; Macrophages; Molecular weight; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Optimization; Permeability; Polysaccharides; Renal Dialysis; Response surface methodology; Saccharides; Structural analysis; structural characteristics; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Ultrasonics; United States > US; China; immunoregulatory activity; C. pilosula glucofructan; structural characteristics
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14050927

In recent years, multiple edible polysaccharides from were mainly isolated with high average molecular weights and exhibited various bioactivities, but it was proven that low-molecular-weight polysaccharides could exert stronger activities due to the superior water solubility and permeability. In the present study, the water-soluble polysaccharide with low molecular weight was isolated under ultrasonic assistance at 30 °C, the extraction process was optimized via response surface method (RSM), and the structure and immunoregulatory activity were further investigated. The maximum yield (4.86%) for crude polysaccharides (cCPPs) was obtained under following parameters: ultrasonic power of 370 W, liquid/material ratio of 33 mL/g, ultrasonic time of 81 min. Subsequently, the cCPPs were further purified through dialysis and Sephadex G-25 column to acquire purified polysaccharide (CPPs). Structural analysis indicated that CPPs was a glucofructan (average molecular weight of 4.23 × 10 Da) with (2→1)-β-D-Fru and (1→)-α-D-Glc as the backbone branched by (2→6)-β-D-Fru . Additionally, CPPs could enhance immunoregulatory function by stimulating NO production and cytokine (IL-6 and TNF-α) secretion of RAW264.7 macrophages dose-dependently, which presented no cytotoxic effects. These data suggest that CPPs have the potential to be used as a nutritional dietary compound and natural immunostimulant supplement in the food industry.