The Molecular Weight and Monosaccharide Composition of Polysaccharides from Opuntia stricta

The molecular weight and monosaccharide composition of Opuntia polysaccharide were studied.The crude polysaccharides were extracted from Opuntia with hot water and precipitated by alcohol,then purified by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE cellulose column.High performance gel filtration chromatography(HPGFC) and high performance liquid chromatographic(HPLC) method of precolumn-derivatization with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone(PMP) were used for detection of the polysaccharide molecular weight and the monosaccharide composition,respectively.The results of HPLC analysis showed that three main polysaccharides fractions were obtained,named OPS-1,OPS-2,OPS-3,with the molecular weights being of 124712,197943 and 43083,respectively.The OPS-1 was composed of glucose,xylose,arabinose with the molar ratio of 1.5:12.9:1.0.The OPS-2 was composed of mannose,rhamnose,gIucuronic acid,gaIacturonic acid,gIucose,xylose,arabinose with the molar ratio of 1.0:15.6:1.0:2.4:8.2:41.6:36.3.The OPS-3 was composed of rhamnose,glucose,xylose,arabinose with the molar ratio of 1.0:2.4:1.4:1.4.The experiment can be used as a scientific basis for the research of Opuntia pharmacology in the future.