Simple and effective purification approach to dissociate mixed water-insoluble α- and β-D-glucans and its application on the medicinal mushroom Fomitopsis betulina

Differences in anomericity and in the branching degree of glucans lead to characteristic intermolecular association that influences their solubility in water or other solvents. A simple purification approach, based on the glucan solubility in aq. 0.1 M NaOH solution, was applied for the separation of mixed water-insoluble α-D-glucans from β-D-glucans extracted from fruiting bodies of Fomitopsis betulina, which is an underexploited medicinal...