A water-soluble polysaccharide, (Fr. 1) isolated from the aqueous extract of an edible mushroom, Volvariella diplasia, is composed Of D-glucose, D-mannose, and D-galactose in a molar ratio 3: 1:1. Compositional analysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation study, Smith degradation, and NMR studies (H-1, C-13, DQF-COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, HMQC, and HMBC) revealed the presence of the following repeating unit in the polysaccharide: [GRAPHICS] (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.