Composition of crude polysaccharides in some Phellinus species

Various Phellinus species (Hymenochactaceae) including P. linteus, P. baumii, P. pini, and P. igniarius of domestic and foreign products, were examined by gas chromatography to validate their composition, of crude polysaccharides. The crude polysaccharide fraction, which is known to be one of the physiologically active fractions, were prepared by a cold ethanol precipitation method and the yield of the crude polysaccharide fractions of P. linteus, P. baumii, P. pini, and P. igniarius were 15.0%, 5.1%, 6.3% and 5.7%, respectively. The total monosaccharide amount of the crude polysaccharide fraction of P. linteus was 148.713 mg/ g (dry weight of mushroom) while those of P. baumii, P. pini and P. igniarius were 29.022 mg/g, 29.222 mg/g and 1.546 mg/g, respectively. Although the major monosaccharide of all Phellinus mushrooms was glucose, there were remarkable differences in the absolute quantity of each monosaccharide. P. linteus included plenty of monosaccharides except mannose and ribose in comparison with P. baumii and P. pini. The absolute quantities of monosaccharides of P. baumii and P. pini were nearly similar except arabinose. The total monosaccharides of P. igniarius were minimal, but the portions of galactose and mannose in P. igniarius were greater than in the other species.