An active polysaccharide isolated from cultivated Cordyceps Chanhua: Structural elucidation and anti-inflammatory/antioxidant effects on human intestinal Caco-2 cells

Artificially cultivated Cordyceps chanhua is commonly used in medicinal and edible applications, with polysaccharides serve as the primary bioactive compounds and critical indicators for quality control. However, the structural details of these polysaccharides and their protective effects against oxidative stress in Caco-2 cells remain unclear. The results revealed that FJCHP-1 primarily comprised glucose (6.05 %), galactose (42.56 %), and mannose (51.39 %), with a molecular weight of 23.15 kDa, which exhibited a smooth, non-crystalline, honeycomb-like structure and contained seven distinct glycosidic linkages. Its main chain comprised →2,6)-α-D-Manp-(1→, →2)-α-D-Manp-(1→, and →6)-α-D-Manp-(1→, whereas its side chains mainly terminated in α-D-Galp-(1→ residues, with some branches including the terminal units →3)-α-D-Galp-(1→, →4)-β-D-Galf-(1→, and α-D-Glcp-(1→. Additionally, FJCHP-1 alleviated H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage in Caco-2 cells by increasing antioxidative enzyme activity, strengthening anti-inflammatory responses, upregulating antioxidative gene expression, and downregulating inflammation-related expression genes. Overall, these findings indicate that C. chanhua polysaccharides can protect intestinal epithelial cells from oxidative stress.