Biologically active polysaccharides from medicinal plants of the Far East

In a search for biologically active polysaccharides, we have investigated ten species of plants from six families of the flora of the Far East. By successive extractions with water and solutions of ammonium oxalate and of sodium hydroxide we have isolated polysaccharides from the roots and epigeal parts and have determined their qualitative and quantitative monosaccharide compositions. The polysaccharides obtained have been studied for immunostimulating, antitumoral, and antiviral activities.Pacific Ocean Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far-Eastern Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, fax 7(4232) 31 40 50. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 197–201, March–April, 1997.