Composition and bioactivity of tea flower polysaccharides obtained by different methods

The effects of different extraction methods on the composition and bioactivity of tea flower polysaccharides (TFPS) were investigated. Traditional water extraction (TWE), microwave-assisted water extraction (MAE), and ultrasound-assisted water extraction (UAE) were compared to extract TFPS. TWE was found to be the optimal method with highest yield of TFPS and highest neutral and acid saccharides contents in TFPS. TFPS obtained by TWE mainly consisted of two kinds of polysaccharides with the molecular weight of 31 kDa and 5000 Da. TFPS obtained by MAE and UAE generally had very low inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase. TFPS (2 mg/mL) obtained by TWE exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase with the inhibitory rate of 83.3%. TFPS obtained by TWE had stronger proliferation effect on lymphocyte at the concentration of 3.0 μg/mL than that of tea leave polysaccharides (TPS).