ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Microbes
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1651015
Structural characteristics of a neutral Glycyrrhiza uralensis polysaccharide and its fermentation properties on the gut microbiota of immunocompromised rats in vivo and vitro
Provisionally accepted
Jie Sun1,2Yi-Xuan Wu1,2,3Xin-Li Li1,2,3Wen-Jie Xie1,2,3
Qing-Ping Xiong4Chang- Xing Jiang4Shu-Wan Tang3Guo-Ping Peng1,2,3,5
Yunfeng Zheng1,2,3,5*- 1National Key Laboratory on Technologies for Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Process Control and Intelligent Manufacture, Nanjing, China
- 2Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Classical Prescription, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 3Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 4Huaiyin Institute of Technology Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Characteristic Resource Development and Medicinal Research, Huai'an, China
- 5Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine,, Nanjing, China
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Glycyrrhiza polysaccharides (GPs) exhibit notable physiological activity; however, their structure is not well understood. The novel neutral polysaccharide fraction GP-1 was isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. The fermentation properties of GP-1 were investigated in vitro and in vivo in immunocompromised rats. The molecular weight (Mw) of GP-1 is 7.6 kDa. The analysis of the monosaccharide composition indicated that GP-1 is a glucan. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and methylation analyses revealed that GP-1 comprised a glucan main chain linked by α-D-Glcp-(1→4) bonds, with β-D-Glcp-(1→6)-α-D-Glcp-(1→side branches at the C-6 position of 1,4,6-Glc and β-D-Glcp-(1→side branches at the C-3 position of 1,3,4-Glc. Staining with Congo red confirmed the presence of a triple-helix structure. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that GP-1 has granular morphology. Pharmacological studies showed that GPs and GP-1 modulated the balance of the gut microbiota and influenced the production of short-chain fatty acids. In addition, the in vivo fermentation of GP and the in vitro fermentation of GP-1 promoted the growth of certain probiotics, particularly Lactobacillus and Dubosiella. These results underscore the structural characteristics of GP-1 and its potential as a prebiotic agent.
Keywords: Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Neutral polysaccharide, Structural characterisation, Gut Microbiota, Fermentation
Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 19 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Wu, Li, Xie, Xiong, Jiang, Tang, Peng and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yunfeng Zheng, zyunfeng@njucm.edu.cn
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