Isolation, chemical composition and antioxidant activities of a water-soluble polysaccharide from rhizoma atractylodis macrocephalae

A water-soluble polysaccharide extracted from Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae was fractioned into two fractions coded as F1 and F2. Structure features of the purified polysaccharides were investigated by a combination of chemical and instrumental analysis, such as gas chromatographymass spectrum (GC-MS) and fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results indicated that the F1 was composed of galactose, rhamnose, arabinose and mannose. F2 contained xylose, galactose and arabinose. Two fractions showed high antioxidant activities. Moreover, antioxidant activities of F2 is stronger.