Three polysaccharides, LTPS-1, LTPS-21 and LTPS-31 were isolated and purified from the seed cakes of lacquer tree using DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-200 column chromatography. The total sugar contents of LTPS-1, LTPS-21 and LTPS-31 were 931.8, 958.2 and 895.1 g kg-1, respectively. LTPS-1 (3.48 kDa) was mainly composed of rhamnose, arabinose, glucose and galactose in a ratio of 35.36:5.06:1:2. LTPS-21 (11.4 kDa) was mainly composed of rhamnose, arabinose, mannose and galactose in a ratio of 41.93:21.8:1.01:9.24. LTPS-31 (19.49 kDa) was mainly composed of rhamnose, arabinose and mannose in a ratio of 38.31:16.44:1.1. IR analysis suggested they contained lower sulphuric acids, the LTPS-21 and LTPS-31 belonged to β-type polysaccharide. Among the three polysaccharides, LTPS-21 exhibited the strongest reducing power, scavenging activity on ABTS and hydroxyl radicals. These findings suggested that polysaccharides from the seed cakes could be potentially developed as natural functional ingredients in the food and cosmetic industry.
Keywords: Polysaccharide; antioxidant activity; characterisation; lacquer tree; purification.