Optimization, characterization, sulfation and antitumor activity of neutral polysaccharides from the fruit of Borojoa sorbilis cuter

•BP1-1, BP1-2, BP1-3 and BP1-4 were isolated from the fruit body of Borojoa sorbilis cuter.•Their structural characters were investigated.•Four polysaccharides were neutral homopolysaccharides.•The sulfated polysaccharides (S-BP1s) were obtained and characterized.•S-BP1s displayed anticancer activity against HepG2 and A549 cancer cells. Extraction optimization, purification, characterization, sulfation and antitumor activity of polysaccharides from the fruit body of Borojoa sorbilis cuter were investigated in present study. The optimal Ultrahigh Pressure extraction condition was determined as: extraction once with the solid-liquid ratio of 1:10 in 30°C and 1500Mpa for crude polysaccharide (BP) and experimental yield was 8.28%. Four water-soluble polysaccharides named as BP1-1, BP1-2, BP1-3 and BP1-4, with molecular weight of 35.8, 32.4, 30.1 and 27.7kDa, were purified by DEAE Sepharose and Superdex 200 chromatography. On the basis of chemical and spectroscopic analyses, BP1-1–BP1-4 were found to be neutral β-d-galactan containing a (1→4)-linked backbone. S-BP1s with the DSS of 1.18, was sulfated by chloro-sulfonic acid-pyridine method. Furthermore, S-BP1s exhibited significant in vitro antitumor activity against liver cancer HepG2 and lung cancer A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The results indicated that S-BP1s could be potentially developed as functional antitumor drug.