Anti-Aging Effect of Hemerocallis citrina Baroni Polysaccharide-Rich Extract on Caenorhabditis elegans

Plant polysaccharides are important for anti-aging research. Polysaccharides from Baroni ( ) have been reported to have antioxidant activity; however, their anti-aging roles and mechanisms are not clear. In this study, we extracted polysaccharides from by an ultrasonic-assisted water extraction-alcohol precipitation method and chemically determined the physicochemical properties such as extraction yield, content, and in vitro antioxidant properties of polysaccharide-rich extract (HCPRE). Using ( ) as a model animal, the anti-aging effect of HCPRE was investigated, and the mechanism of action of HCPRE was explored by the in vivo antioxidant level assay of and the related gene expression assay. The extraction yield of HCPRE was 11.26%, the total polysaccharide content was 77.96%, and the main monosaccharide components were glucose and galactose. In addition, HCPRE exhibited good antioxidant activity both in vitro and in vivo. Under normal thermal stress and oxidative stress conditions, being fed 1200 µg/mL of HCPRE significantly prolonged the life span of by 32.65%, 17.71%, and 32.59%, respectively. Our study showed that HCPRE exerted an anti-aging effect on , and its mechanism involves increasing the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), reducing the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and regulating the expression of related genes.