LAUSR

BACKGROUND As a medicine and food homology agricultural product, purple sweet potato Ipomoea Batatas (L.) has been used for a long planting history. It contains various bioactive substances, such as polysaccharides, anthocyanins, flavonoids. Purple sweet potato polysaccharides are known to have anti-oxidant, anti-tumor and immunomodulatory functions. Nevertheless, the study on structural characterization of purple sweet potato polysaccharide and its activity to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are still rarely reported. RESULTS A novel polysaccharide (PSPP-A) was extracted and isolated from purple sweet potato, and then the structural characteristics and preventive effect on NAFLD were investigated. The results indicated the PSPP-A was composed of L-Rhamnose, D-Arabinose, D-Galactose, D-Glucose, and D-Glucuronic acid with molar ratios of 1.89:8.45:1.95:1.13:1, which molecular weight was 2.63×103 kDa. The methylation and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis the glycosidic linkages were →3)-α-L-Araf-(1→, α-L-Araf-(1→, →2,4)-α-L-Rhap-(1→, 4-O-Me-β-D-GlcAp-(1→, →4)-α-D-Glcp-(1→, →4)-β-D-Galp-(1→, and →6)-β-D-Galp-(1→. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the structure of PSPP-A was irregular. Subsequently, the protective effect of PSPP-A on NAFLD was investigated. The results indicated that the body weight, liver index, and the content of TG, TC, AST, and ALT were significantly reduced by intervention of RSPP-A compared with the model group. Furthermore, the liver histopathological analyses indicated that it's could attenuated irregular hepatocyte arrangement and excessive lipid vacuoles. CONCLUSIONS PSPP-A mainly contains arabinose, which has certain preventive effect on NAFLD. The manuscript lays a theoretical foundation for further elucidating the hepatoprotective effect of purple sweet potato which as a functional food. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.