[Investigation of polysaccharides of Echinops species. Medicinal plant polysaccharides I].

Polysaccharides isolated from Echinops sphaerocephalus, Echinops ruthenicus, Echinops exaltatus, Echinops commutatus and Echinops orientalis (Asteraceae family) were investigated to study their qualitative and quantitative relations. The extracts of these studied plants have been used in traditional Chinese medicine as drugs with anti-inflammatory effect and anti-tumor promoting action in the osseous system [1]. We suppose that these biological effects are related to the polysaccharides especially to the acidic ones. The plant material was successively extracted with boiling water and six fractions were collected. The yield was 40-45%. The uronic acid content of these fractions, measured by the Bitter method, was relatively high 15-35% (Table I.). In case of Echinops sphaerocephalus different parts of the plant were investigated. The root and the stem are useful from a practical point of view because of the high uronic acid content. Some fractions, which seemed to be interesting on the basis of the measured uronic acid content, were dialyzed then concentrated, lyophilized and their uronic acid, protein and carbohydrate contents were determinated (Table III). The Echinops orientalis root fraction 6. was separated by ion-exchange chromatography. The monosaccharide composition of the neutral and the acidic fractions was measured by gas chromatography (Table IV).