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DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-959564
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York
Immunologically Active Polysaccharide from Cetraria islandica
Publication History
1993
1994
Publication Date:
05 January 2007 (online)
Abstract
A new alkali-soluble polysaccharide has been isolated from Iceland moss, Cetraria islandica (L.) Ach., by ethanol fractionation, ion-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration. The mean Mr was estimated to be 18,000. Sugar and methylation analysis, partial hydrolysis, and 13C-NMR spectroscopy showed the polysaccharide to be a branched galactomannan with a backbone composed of two structural elements; (1→6)-linked α-D-mannopyranosyl and α-D-(1→6)-galactopyranosyl units. The polysaccharide showed pronounced immunostimulating activity in an in vitro phagocytosis assay and in the in vivo carbon clearance assay.
Key words
Cetraria islandica - Parmeliaceae - Iceland moss - galactomannan - plant polysaccharide - immunological activity