Free Radical Scavenging Capability of Polysaccharides from Edible Mushrooms

Free radical scavenging capabilities of crude polysaccharides and refined polysaccharides from three kinds of edible mushrooms such as Pleurotus citrinopileauts, Pleurotus cornucopiae and Coprinus comatus to superoxide anion, hydroxyl and DPPH free radicals were investigated. Results indicated that scavenging rates of refined polysaccharides were higher than those of crude polysaccharides from three kinds of edible mushrooms to superoxide anion, hydroxyl and DPPH free radicals. Compared to crude polysaccharides, scavenging rates of refined polysaccharides from three kinds of edible mushrooms were improved by 62.5%, 58.3% and 51.5% to superoxide anion free radicals; 33.1%, 42.3% and 33.2% to hydroxyl free radicals; 56.0%, 63.5% and 60.3% to DPPH free radicals, respectively. Due to the improvement of scavenging capability of refined polysaccharides to free radicals, polysaccharides are major bioactive components to free radical scavenging.