What is herbal crude polysaccharide?
Carbohydrates, also known as carbohydrates, are divided into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides – Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrate compounds that can no longer be hydrolyzed, such as glucose, fructose.
Oligosaccharides – Oligosaccharides are compounds composed of 2-9 monosaccharide molecules, which can be divided into disaccharides, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides and more, according to the number of monosaccharides. The most important of these are disaccharides, such as sucrose, maltose and lactose (in milk).
Polysaccharides – Polysaccharides are macromolecular compounds composed of more than 10 monosaccharide molecules. Widely present in animal cell membranes, plant and microbial cell walls. A large number of pharmacological and clinical studies have found that polysaccharides are a class of natural immune regulators, especially Chinese herbal polysaccharides.
As early as 1969, the world authoritative scientific journal “Nature” first published an article describing the anti-tumor effect of lentinan, which attracted the attention of the scientific community to polysaccharides, especially herbal polysaccharides. Mushroom polysaccharide is a full range of immunomodulators and can inhibit tumor cells at the same time. Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide, Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, Tremella polysaccharide also have the functions of regulating immunity and anti-tumor. Astragalus polysaccharides, Hericium erinaceus polysaccharides, and Codonopsis polysaccharides have protective effects on the digestive system. Subsequently, various biological activities of plant polysaccharides such as immune regulation, anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-viral, and protection of the gastrointestinal system have been gradually confirmed. Since then, the scientific community has started a research upsurge of active polysaccharides.
Products commonly found in polysaccharides
Starch: The main food of human beings, mainly found in barley, wheat, rice, corn and other foods. It iseventually hydrolyzed into glucose in the human body.
Cellulose: The most widely distributed and rich in cellulose in wood, cotton, vegetables and grasses. Cellulose is the food of herbivores, but cannot be hydrolyzed into glucose in the human body.
Immune polysaccharide: It is a kind of polysaccharide, which has anti-cancer activity and can regulate human immune function. Immune polysaccharides are mostly found in fungi, such as lentinan in Lentinus edodes, enoki mushroom polysaccharide in Flammulina velutipes, and tuckahoe polysaccharide in Poria cocos. Various anti-cancer and immune-regulating health products contain immune polysaccharides.
Immune polysaccharides, crude polysaccharides and complex polysaccharides are collectively referred to as herbal crude polysaccharides.
The Benefits of Herbal Crude Polysaccharide
Lowering blood sugar and preventing diabetes
Diabetes is a group of syndromes characterized by high blood sugar. Studies have shown that crude polysaccharides have significant hypoglycemic effects. For the adjuvant treatment of diabetes, the symptoms of all patients were significantly improved. Its hypoglycemic mechanism mainly includes improving liver antioxidant capacity and enhancing liver glucokinase activity. Therefore, crude polysaccharide can be used in health food and adjuvant treatment of diabetes.
Hypolipidemic effect of herbal crude polysaccharide
Numerous studies have shown that crude herbal polysaccharides can reduce plasma total cholesterol and counteract the formation of experimental hypercholesterolemia. Reduces plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and neutral lipids, and increases HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) in hyperlipidemia. HDL is considered beneficial to the body because it enhances the excretion of cholesterol through the liver. Crude polysaccharide can also combine with lipoprotein esterase to promote arterial wall lipoprotein esterase into the blood and play an anti-atherosclerotic effect.
Anticoagulant and antithrombotic effect of herbal crude polysaccharide
Thrombosis mainly consists of three stages:
- Platelet Adhesion and Aggregation
- Blood coagulation
- Fibrinolysis
Studies have shown that crude polysaccharide can significantly inhibit the adhesion of platelets and reduce blood viscosity, which directly affects the first stage of thrombosis. Crude polysaccharide has significant anticoagulant effect in vivo and in vitro, and reduces platelet count, prolongs blood coagulation and thus affects the formation of thrombus. In addition, crude polysaccharide can improve the activity of fibrinolysis and play a role in dissolving thrombus. It can be seen that crude polysaccharide can act on all aspects of thrombosis.
Enhance body immunity
Crude polysaccharide can promote the phagocytic function of the mononuclear macrophage system, enhance the body’s self-protection ability, and effectively enhance the body’s humoral immunity. A large number of pharmacological and clinical studies have found that there are three main ways of affecting the immune function of natural crude polysaccharides:
- Activation of macrophages;
- Activation of the reticuloendothelial system. The reticuloendothelial system in the organism has the function of phagocytosis and exclusion of aging cells and foreign bodies and pathogens;
- Activation of T and B lymphocytes.
In addition, crude polysaccharides can promote the proliferation of bifidobacteria. Although the human body cannot directly utilize crude polysaccharides, crude polysaccharides can be utilized by intestinal bacteria and can promote the proliferation of bifidobacteria. Bifidobacterium is an anaerobic gram-positive bacteria, which is an extremely important factor in maintaining the balance of intestinal flora, and a reliable basis for judging whether the environment inside and outside the intestine is normal. Promoting the proliferation of bifidobacteria will stimulate intestinal immune cells, thereby improving their ability to produce antibodies, thereby preventing and treating diseases, and also improving immunity.
Inhibit pathogenic bacteria
Crude polysaccharides can promote the proliferation of bifidobacteria, thereby inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens. Bifidobacterium can ferment crude polysaccharides to produce short-chain fatty acids and some antibiotic substances, which can inhibit the growth and reproduction of exogenous pathogenic bacteria and inherent spoilage bacteria in the intestine.
Promote digestion and regulate gastrointestinal function
Bifidobacteria in the intestinal tract ferment crude polysaccharides to produce a large amount of short-chain fatty acids (mainly acetic acid and emulsion), which can stimulate intestinal peristalsis, thereby promoting digestion and preventing constipation.
Other benifits of herbal crude polysaccharide
Herbal crude polysaccharide also has various physiological effects such as lowering blood pressure, slowing down heart rate, increasing coronary flow, hypoxia resistance, anti-cancer and anti-oxidation, and anti-radiation.
