Purification, characterization and tyrosinase inhibition activity of polysaccharides from chestnut (Castanea mollissima Bl.) kernel

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules 2019-06, Vol.131, p.309-314
• Main Authors: Tang, Minyue, Hou, Fan, Wu, Yanwen, Liu, Yongguo, Ouyang, Jie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization; Chestnut polysaccharide; Inhibition; Tyrosinase
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.03.065

The present paper aimed to obtain the polysaccharides with potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity from chestnut kernel. The ultrasound extracted polysaccharide fractions 1-1 (UEP1-1) and UEP2-1 were obtained by successive ultrasound-assisted-extraction, DEAE-52 and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum revealed that both UEP1-1 and UEP2-1 had the characteristic absorption peaks of polysaccharides. The degree of esterification of UEP1-1 (52.4%) and UEP2-1 (49.0%) was higher than that of the crude UEP (33.0%), indicating that the gel properties of the polysaccharides changed after purification. The x-ray diffraction patterns of UEP1-1 and UEP2-1 suggested that they were semi-crystalline polymers with a degree of crystallinity of 23.9 and 35.8%, respectively. The weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of UEP1-1 and UEP2-1 was 75.4 and 59.9 kDA, respectively. The monosaccharide composition of UEP1-1 and UEP2-1 was glucose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, xylose, rhamnose and fructose with different proportions. UEP1-1 displayed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on tyrosinase activity, and the inhibition mode was found to be competitive. •Chestnut polysaccharide is mainly composed of glucose, galactose and arabinose.•Chestnut polysaccharide is in a monocrystalline state with low crystallinity.•Chestnut polysaccharide exhibits strong inhibitory effect on tyrosinase.•The inhibition type of chestnut polysaccharide is competitive inhibition.