Anti-oxidation and anti-micro organism activities of purification polysaccharide from Lygodium japonicum in vitro

In this study, we extracted polysaccharides from fern Lygodium japonicum and obtained purification polysaccharides by a DEAE-52 cellulose column (1.6 x 30 cm). The antioxidant activity of the purification polysaccharides was evaluated by various antioxidant assay, including DPPH- radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, metal chelating activities, and inhibition against liposome peroxidation. Those various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as vitamin C. The results indicate that the purification polysaccharides showed strong antioxidant activity against liposome peroxidation, DPPH- radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activities. This antioxidant property increase with increased amount of sample. In addition, the purification polysaccharides were still determined as anti-microorganism equivalents. The results obtained in the present study indicated that the purification polysaccharides is a potential source of natural broad-spectrum anti-micro organism. Although, the tests presented here show the usefulness of purification polysaccharides as in vitro antioxidants and antibacterial agent, it still needs to be that this purification polysaccharides show their activity in biological systems, health implications or dry foods, which will be implemented in our later work. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.