Isolation, chemical characterization and in vitro antioxidant activities of polysaccharides from Aconitum coreanum

The water-soluble crude polysaccharide, Aconitum coreanum polysaccharides (ACPS), was extracted from A. coreanum and purified by Diethylaminoethyl cellulose (DEAE-C) and Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, giving three polysaccharide fractions coded as ACPSA-1, ACPSB-2 and ACPSB-3. Their chemical and physical characteristics of polysaccharide fractions, and antioxidant capacity, including scavenging activity against DPPH radicals, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and chelating ability were valuated in this paper. Experimental results showed that ACPS-2 and ACPS-3 exhibited significantly antioxidant activity at a concentration-dependent manner. The polysaccharide fractions can be developed as new antioxidant agents.   Key words: Aconitum coreanum, polysaccharide, purification, characterization, antioxidant activity.