Purification and structural characterization of an α-glucosidase inhibitory polysaccharide from apricot (Armeniaca sibirica L. Lam.) pulp

• The polysaccharide with hypoglycemic activities was isolated from apricot fruit pulp.
• This polysaccharide was purified according to the different molecule weight fractions.
• The properties and chemical compositions of the polysaccharide were analyzed.

In this study, the crude polysaccharide (APPS) from the fruiting bodies of apricot (Armeniaca sibirica L. Lam.) was isolated and fractionated by ultrafiltration and Sephadex G-75 gel chromatography. The hypoglycemic activities of all fractions were determined by α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in vitro. The fraction APPS1-2 showed the best activity with an IC50 of 6.06 mg/mL. The properties and chemical compositions of this fraction were analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography, gel permeation chromatography-eighteen angle laser light scattering instrument, UV spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy (1H). The results demonstrated that APPS1-2 was a neutral glycoconjugate with a molecular weight of 25.93 kDa. It comprised rhamnose, glucose, mannose, and galactose, with a relative molar ratio of 1.34:2.01:0.48:0.35. The backbone of APPS1-2 may consist of rhamnose and glucose, but its branches may consist of mannose and galactose. The IR and UV spectrum of APPS1-2 revealed the typical characteristics of heteropolysaccharide. 1H NMR spectrum showed that APPS1-2 contained α-configurations.