Structure characterisation of polysaccharide isolated from huangjiu and its anti‐inflammatory activity through MAPK signalling

Summary Huangjiu is a famous alcoholic beverage in China due to its nutritional and functional properties. In the present study, a polysaccharide HJ‐P with molecular weight of 1435 Da was purified from huangjiu and was composed of rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, glucose, galactose and glucose (highest mole percentage of 85.36%). Methylation and NMR analysis suggest that the linkage type of HJ‐P was proposed to be composed of (1→4)‐linked‐Glcp, (1→6)‐linked‐Galp and (1→4)‐linked‐Manp with terminal unit (1→)‐linked‐Glcp and most of the sugar residues were α‐anomeric configuration. HJ‐P had a great anti‐oxidant activity and the scavenging rates of DPPH and ABTS radical were 92.61% and 78.13% respectively. Meanwhile, HJ‐P effectively reduced NO and pro‐inflammatory cytokines production through the phosphorylation inhibition of MAPK signal pathway. This is the first report on anti‐inflammatory activity of polysaccharide from huangjiu and will be helpful to gain better understanding of the functional value of huangjiu.