Physicochemical, antioxidant, gastrointestinal digestion and probiotic growth promoting properties of water and alkali extracted polysaccharides from Schizophyllum commune

Abstract BACKGROUND Schizophyllum commune is a traditional edible and medicinal mushroom that has been successfully artificially cultivated in China. Polysaccharides from S. commune have attracted much attention because of their bioactivity. The present study aimed to investigate the physicochemical, gastrointestinal digestion and probiotic growth promoting properties of water extracted polysaccharides (WSP) and alkali extracted polysaccharides (WSP) from S. commune . RESULTS The extraction rates and the total sugar contents of WSP and ASP were 11.97% and 14.36% and 57.71 g kg −1 and 52.34 g kg −1 , respectively. The main monosaccharides of WSP are glucose and mannose, whereas glucose, mannose and galacturonic acid are the main monosaccharides of ASP. Although the molecular weight of WSP is greater than that of ASP, both WSP and ASP show the typical absorption peaks of polysaccharides and a triple helix structure. WSP shows a coarse granular microstructure, whereas ASP presents a dense porous microstructure. Moreover, WSP shows typical Newtonian fluid behavior, whereas ASP exhibits typical non‐Newtonian fluid behavior. WSP presents better thermal stability and antioxidant properties than that of ASP. Both WSP and ASP have good hydrolysis resistance in vitro simulated digestion, but ASP shows better hydrolysis resistance. Both WSP and ASP can promote the growth of probiotic, but the promoting growth effect depends on the strain of the probiotic. CONCLUSION In sum, WSP shows better physicochemical properties, but ASP has more potential to be an excellent prebiotic. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.