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Bupleurum chinense DC, a traditional medicinal plant in China that has many pharmacological effects, contains polysaccharide as one of its active components. In this study, we isolated and structurally characterized the polysaccharide from B. chinense. Water-soluble polysaccharides (termed WBCP) were extracted from the plant and fractionated by anion-exchange and size exclusion chromatographies. From this procedure, we obtained a homogeneous acidic polysaccharide (WBCP-A2) and determined its monosaccharide composition. Analysis by FT infrared and 13C NMR spectroscopies, along with enzymatic hydrolysis, indicated that WBCP-A2 is a pectic polysaccharide, composed of rhamnogalacturonan I, rhamnogalacturonan II, highly methyl-esterified homogalacturonan (HG), and either non- or low methyl-esterified HG domains. These different fractions may be covalently linked through HG segments to form the complex pectin molecules.

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