Structural Characteristics of the Novel Polysaccharide FVPA1 from Winter Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Flammulina velutipes (Agaricomycetes), Capable of Enhancing Natural Killer Cell Activity against K562 Tumor Cells

FVPA1, a novel polysaccharide, has been isolated from fruiting bodies of the culinary-medicinal mushroom Flammulina velutipes, a historically popular, widely cultivated and consumed functional food with an attractive taste, beneficial nutraceutical properties such as antitumor and immunomodulatory effects, and a number of essential biological activities. The average molecular weight was estimated to be ~1.8 × 104 Da based on high-performance size exclusion chromatography. Sugar analyses, methylation analyses, and 1H, 13C, and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed the following structure of the repeating units of the FVPA1 polysaccharide Identification of this structure would conceivably lead to better understanding of the nutraceutical functions of this very important edible fungus. Bioactivity tests in vitro indicated that FVPA1 could significantly enhance natural killer cell activity against K562 tumor cells.