Characterization and biological evaluation of Crataegus azarolus fruit polysaccharides

Abstract

The polysaccharide obtained from Crataegus azarolus fruit, by water extraction followed by ethanol precipitation and fractionation using copper complex, shows physiological activities: prebiotic and antioxidant. The total acid hydrolysis shows that the polysaccharide consists of galactose, glucose, mannose and rhamnose. The employed physico-chemical techniques of the polysaccharide sequences approach (FT-IR, MALDI-TOF-MS spectrometry, H-1 and C-13 NMR) indicate that it is a Galactoglucomannan, the main chain consists of major amounts of beta-(1 -> 4)-linked glucose and mannose residues with monosaccha-ride branches of alpha-(1 -> 6) galactose and O-acetyl substituents. The properties of this new glucomannan suggest that it could find an application as a prebiotic in the food industry.(C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.