Chemical analysis of a new (1→3)-, (1→6)-branched glucan from an edible mushroom, Pleurotus florida

A glucan that was soluble in aqueous sodium chloride was isolated from the aqueous extract of the fruiting bodies of Pleurotus florida. On the basis of total hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation, and NMR studies (1H, 13C, TOCSY, DQF-COSY, NOESY, and HSQC), the structure of the repeating unit of the polysaccharide is established as: This glucan stimulates the phagocytic activity of macrophages.

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