Structural characterisation of a heteropolysaccharide by NMR spectra

An undocumented water-soluble polysaccharide, LZ-C-1, was isolated from the fruiting bodies of the fungus, Ganoderma lucidum. The polysaccharide had a molecular weight of 7 × 103 Da, and was mainly composed of l-Fuc, d-Glc and d-Gal. LZ-C-1 had a sugar content of ∼96.4% as measured using the phenol–sulphuric acid method. As a precondition to understand the bioactivity, structural features of LZ-C-1 were investigated by a combination of total hydrolysis, methylation analysis, FT-IR and NMR studies. The results indicated that LZ-C-1 had a backbone of 1,6-disubstituted-α-galactopyranosyl, 1,2,6-trisubstituted-α-galactopyranosyl, 1,3-disubstituted-β-glucopyranosyl and 1,4,6-trisubstituted-β-glucopyranosyl residues. The branches were mainly composed of 1-substituted-β-glucopyranosyl and 1-substituted-α-fucopyranosyl residues.