A new water-soluble polysaccharide named as AAPS-1, was extracted with warm water from the roots of Acanthophyllum acerosum and further purified by DEAE-cellulose A52 anion-exchange and Sephadex G-50 gel filtration chromatography. AAPS-1 was a neutral polysaccharide, with a molecular weight of
ABPS-1, a new water-soluble polysaccharide with molecular weight of 26 kDa and a specific optical rotation of +170° (c 1.0, H(2)O), was extracted from the roots of Acanthophyllum bracteatum by warm water and further successively purified through DEAE-cellulose A52 and Sephadex G-100 columns.