Comparative analysis of pectic polysaccharides isolated from various thinned young red-fleshed kiwifruits: Structural properties and biological functions

  • Food Chem X. 2025 Jun 29:29:102709. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102709.
Jing-Liu He  1  2 ,  Kai-Xin Jiang  3 ,  Ting Wei  1 ,  Jin-Lei Geng  3 ,  Zi-Fan Zhao  2 ,  Jing Feng  3 ,  Jie Li  4 ,  Hong-Yan Liu  4 ,  Shang Lin  2 ,  Ding-Tao Wu  3
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Pharmacy and Laboratory Science, Ya'an Polytechnic College, Ya'an 625100, Sichuan, China.
  • 2. College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an 625014, Sichuan, China.
  • 3. Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan, China.
  • 4. Research Center for Plants and Human Health, Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Agricultural Science and Technology Center, Chengdu 610213, Sichuan, China.
PMID: 40677549 DOI: 10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102709
Abstract

To utilize thinned young kiwifruit for potential industrial applications, this study compared structural properties and in vitro bioactivities of pectic Polysaccharides isolated from three thinned young red-fleshed kiwifruit cultivars, including Actinidia chinensis cv. 'Donghong', 'Hongshi', and 'Hongyang'. The results demonstrated that these young kiwifruit byproducts were rich in pectic Polysaccharides, with extraction yields of 90.7-101.3 mg/g dry weight. Although their bound Polyphenols (8.02-8.93 mg GAE/100 mg), esterification degrees (50.45-61.32 %), and molecular weights (7.44 × 104-8.51 × 104 Da) varied across cultivars, the glycosidic linkage patterns showed remarkable consistency, dominated by homogalacturonan (12.07-13.84 mol%) and rhamnogalacturonan-I (70.25-75.09 mol%) regions. Notably, all these pectic Polysaccharides, particularly those isolated from the 'Donghong' cultivar, demonstrated notable antioxidant, antiglycation, prebiotic, and immunoenhancing activities in vitro. These findings indicate that thinned red-fleshed kiwifruit byproducts are rich sources of RG-I enriched pectic Polysaccharides, with significant potential as functional food ingredients.

Keywords
Antiglycation effect; Antioxidant effect; Chemical structure; Immunoenhancing activity; Pectic polysaccharide; Prebiotic potential; Thinned kiwifruit byproduct.
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