Background: Plantago major L. leaves have been used for centuries by the traditional medicine in the treatment of infectious disorders of the respiratory, urinary and digestive tracts. Researchers have reported that hot water extracts of Plantago major possess a broad-spectrum of anticancer, antioxidant and antiviral activities, as well as activities which modulate cell-mediated immunity. Their beneficial properties may be due to the significant content of polysaccharides. The polysaccharides that have been isolated from the leaves of Plantago major L. have different structures - pectic substances, galactans, arabinogalactans, glucomannans.
Aim: The aim of this paper was to study the correlation between the structure of the water extractable polysaccharides isolated from Plantago major L. leaves and their enzymatic hydrolysis with different carbohydrate hydrolases.
Materials and methods: The hydrolysis reactions were performed with the enzymes hemicellulase and mannanase. Spectrophotometric total reducing sugars assay was used to examine the hydrolysis yield. The monosaccharide and oligosaccharide compositions were determined using HPLC analysis.
Results: The highest hydrolysis yield of the water extractable polysaccharides from Plantago major leaves was obtained by treatment with hemicellulase. The hydrolysis yield increased with the augmentation of the ratio of enzyme to polysaccharide. Galactose was the prevalent monosaccharide identified in the composition of the isolated polysaccharides. Oligosaccharides with different degree of polymerization were also detected.
Conclusion: The enzymatic hydrolysis of water extractable polysaccharides from Plantago major leaves allows us to obtain different types of oligosaccharides with beneficial effects on both human health and industry.
Keywords: Plantago major L.; enzymatic hydrolysis; hemicellulase; mannanase; polysaccharides.