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Review
. 2025 Aug 18:16:1618885.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1618885. eCollection 2025.

Extraction, purification, structural characterization, and health benefit of the litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) polysaccharides: a review

Bo Wang  1 , Haizheng Bi  1 , Mengru Zhang  1 , Xinrui Xu  1 , Meng Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

Extraction, purification, structural characterization, and health benefit of the litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) polysaccharides: a review

Bo Wang et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Litchi, a prominent species within the Litchi Sonn genus of the Sapindaceae family, is a fruit renowned for its significant nutritional, health, and pharmacological properties. Polysaccharides are one of the functional active ingredients in litchi, with various biological functions such as hypoglycemic effect, prebiotic effect, promoting effect on exopolysaccharide production by Weissella confuse, antioxidant effect, antiproliferative effect, immunoregulatory effect. Consequently, research on litchi polysaccharides has steadily expanded and deepened in recent years. A comprehensive review of existing studies is essential for advancing the understanding of these polysaccharides. This article provides an overview of the current state of research on litchi polysaccharides, covering various aspects such as extraction, purification, chemical structure, health benefits, and structure-activity relationships. Furthermore, it offers valuable insights to guide the continued development of litchi polysaccharides, establishing a scientific foundation for their more efficient and rational utilization.

Keywords: Litchi chinensis Sonn.; extraction; health benefit; polysaccharides; purification; structural characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The botanical characteristics of litchi. (A) The tree of litchi. (B) The fruit of litchi. (C) The pericarp tissues of litchi. (D) The leaves of litchi. (E) The seeds of litchi. (F) The distribution of litchi in world. (https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30014909-2. 20 April 2025). (Pictures are from public sources and the Internet).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Regarding the extraction and purification of litchi polysaccharides (Pictures are from public sources and the Internet).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Heat map of monosaccharide composition of litchi polysaccharides.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Chemical structure of litchi polysaccharides.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Schematic representation of the molecular mechanism of hypoglycemic effect of litchi polysaccharides.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Schematic representation of the molecular mechanism of immunoregulatory effect of litchi polysaccharides.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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