Abstract
A polysaccharide (MPS) isolated from Cristaria plicata (Leach) consisted of d-glucose. Its structural characteristics were investigated by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), infrared analysis, gas chromatography-MS, total acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation and Smith degradation. The results indicated that the polysaccharide of C. plicata (Leach) has the weight-average molecular weight of about 2.97 × 106 Da. The structure of the polysaccharide was composed of glucose with α-(1 → 4)-linkages with short exterior chains. The fundamental information obtained from this work is beneficial to the interpretation in the relationship of the polysaccharide structure and its biological functions, and suggests that the polysaccharide from mussel may contribute to be used as a dietary supplement for health foods and therapeutics.
Declaration of interest: This work was financially supported by National Agricultural Innovation Project (No. 2011GB2A100009), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (No. 09JCZDJC21800), the Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs of Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Tianjin (No. 08ZCGHHZ00800), the Foundation of Tianjin Educational Committee (No. 20090604), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 31000279) and recruited faculty research start-up foundation in Tianjin University of Science and Technology (No. 0200060). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.