Physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of acidic polysaccharides from wampee seeds

Two novel polysaccharide fractions, named WP1 and WP3, were extracted and purified from wampee [Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels] seeds. Their physicochemical properties, in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities were investigated. Results indicated that both WP1 and WP3 were acidic heteropolysaccharides with uronic acid content of 45.35% and 56.79%, respectively. The molar ratio of rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose of WP1 was 5.01:1.50:39.53:1:10.76:23.50 while WP3 was 5.76:1.73:27.27:1:4.72:8.77. Furthermore, WP3 not only exhibited stronger in vitro antioxidant activities than WP1, but also more significantly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) level in serum of SD rats induced by high-fat diet.