Physicochemical property and antioxidant activity of polysaccharide from the seed cakes of Camellia oleifera Abel

Abstract Seed cake refers to the food by‐product of Camellia oleifera Abel, and its insufficient utilization can cause serious environment pollution and resource waste. This study aimed to investigate antioxidant activities of the polysaccharide from the seed cakes of Camellia oleifera Abel (COCP) in vitro and in vivo. The physicochemical property of COCP was also determined. COCP was characterized to be an acidic glycoprotein and mainly consisted of rhamnose (Rha), arabinose (Ara), galactose (Gal), glucose (Glc), xylose (Xyl), mannose (Man), and galacturonic acid (Gal‐UA). COCP exhibited the polysaccharide's characteristic absorption in the Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy and showed as sheet‐like structures with a smooth surface under the scanning electron microscope ( SEM ). COCP exerted good scavenging activities on ABTS, DPPH, and OH radicals, with IC 50 values of 2.94, 2.24, and 5.09 mg/ml, respectively. COCP treatment improved learning and memory abilities of D‐galactose‐induced aging mice. Significant decreases were found in the levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum, as aging mice were supplemented with COCP. Aging mice showed obviously higher malondialdehyde (MDA) contents and lower superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) activities in serum, brain, liver, kidney, and heart. The phenomena were noticeably reversed when mice were treated with COCP. Results indicated that COCP exerted excellent antioxidant activities in vitro and in vivo, which support its potential application as a natural antioxidant in food and medicine industries.