Chemical Structures and Antioxidant Activities of Polysaccharides from Carthamus tinctorius L.

Two polysaccharides from Carthamus tinctorius L. (CTLP-1 and CTLP-2) were purified, and their structures were analyzed by physical and chemical testing. CTLP-1 had a mass of 5900 Da that was composed of arabinose, glucose, and galactose with a mass molar ratio of 6.7:4.2:1. The backbone of CTLP-1 was -> 1)-alpha-GalAp-(1 -> 4)-alpha-Arap-(1 -> 2)-alpha-Glup-(4 ->. CTLP-2 had a mass of 8200 Da that was composed of arabinose, glucose, and galactose with a mass molar ratio of 16.76:4.28:1. The backbone of CTLP-2 was -> 1)-alpha-Galp-(2,6 -> 1)-alpha-Arap-(4,6 -> 1)-alpha-Glup-(3 ->. Both of them exhibited a high reducing power, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS radical scavenging activity, moderate Fe2+ chelating activity and superoxide anion scavenging activity, implying that they might be potential antioxidants.