Antioxidant activity of a water-soluble polysaccharide purified from Pteridium aquilinum

A water-soluble crude polysaccharide, obtained from fern Pteridium aquilinum, was fractionated by DEAE-Sepharose Fast-Flow column chromatography, and purified by Sephacryl S-400 HR column chromatography. The average molecular weight (M_w) of the purified polysaccharide (PLP) is 458,000 Da. The monosaccharide components of PLP were characterized by gas chromatography (GC), and the majority of the monosaccharide components was glucose (relative mass 58.1%) with low levels of galactose, mannose, rhamnose, and arabinose (relative mass 18.7%, 6.8%, 10.2%, and 6.1%, respectively). The Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR) of PLP revealed typical characteristics of polysaccharides. On the basis of the ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP), DPPH radical-scavenging, the superoxide radical assay, and self-oxidation of 1,2,3-phentriol assay, the antioxidant activities of PLP were investigated. The purified polysaccharide was demonstrated to have strong reductive power (FRAP value: 827.6 μmol/L), moderate scavenging activities against DPPH radicals (83.1%) and superoxide radicals (60.5%), and moderate inhibiting power for self-oxidation of 1,2,3-phentriol (52.4%).