Objective: To study the tonic constituents in Fructus Corni, the pulp of Cornus of ficinalis.
Method: Hot-water extraction, ethanol precipitation and column chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-200 were used to isolate and purify the polysaccharides in Fructus Corni. HPGPC was used to determine the purity and measure the mean molecular weight of the polysaccharides. TLC, PC, GC, GC-MS, 13CNMR, partial acid hydrolysis and permethylation to elucidate the structures.
Result: A water-soluble polysaccharide with mean molecular weight of 2.47 x 10(14), named Co-4, was obtained. It's main chain was (1-->4) linked beta-D-glucan, with branching points at position 6.
Conclusion: A thorough study on the polysaccharides of Fructus Corni has been made for the first time and the structure of Co-4 has been elucidated.