Isolation and Characterization of a Water-Soluble Polysaccharide from the Mycelia of Solid Cultured Phellinus linteus

Isolation and Characterization of a Water-Soluble Polysaccharide from the Mycelia of Solid Cultured Phellinus linteus

Fraction (PMEx-AH-${\beta}$) of water-soluble polysaccharide, showing stimulating activity against macrophages, was isolated from mycelia of solid cultured Phellinus linteus by hot-water extraction, ethanol precipitation, and chromatography. Chemical characteristics of PMEx-AH-${\beta}$ were as follows: carbohydrate content, 71%; monosaccharide composition, Man:Glu:Gal (9:64:27); molecular weight, $1-7{\times}10^4$; uronic acid content, 6.8%. Fundamental structure of PMEx-AH-${\beta}$ is deduced as ${\beta}$-($1{$\rightarrow}6$)-D-glucan with ${\beta}$-($1{\rightarow}3$)-D-glucosidic side chains based on methylation analysis.