Molecular Weight Distributions of Polysaccharides in Flabella and Roots of Sparassis latifolia Fruiting Bodies

Distributions of molecular weight (Mw) of soluble polysaccharides in the flabella and roots on fruiting bodies of Sparassis latifolia were compared. The fruiting bodies were freeze-dried after harvest prior to a hot-water extraction to collect polysaccharides for a high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) analysis and a β-glucanase digestion test. The HPSECresults showed that the average Mws and Mw distributions of polysaccharides significantly differed in the flabella and the roots. The polysaccharide Mw in the flabella was 3.88×10⁵ Da on average with a main component at 4.30×10⁵ Da; whereas, that in the roots was 1.43×10⁶ Da with a majority of 2.85×10⁴ Da and a few largerthan 2×10⁶ Damolecules. The enzymatic digestion test indicated that β-glucanase could not degrade polysaccharides in the fruiting bodieswith a molecular weight greater than 2×10⁶ Da.