Abstract: To investigate the structure of polysaccharides from Actinidia chinensis cv. Hongyang and their antioxidant and anti-aging effects on Caenorhabditis elegans, crude polysaccharides from A. chinensis cv. Hongyang (ACP) were prepared by ultrasound-assisted extraction. ACP were purified sequentially on DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100 columns, yielding a homogenous polysaccharide (ACP-3-G). The molecular structure of ACP-3-G was characterized using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Finally, the effects of different concentrations of ACP-3-G on the lifespan, motility, heat stress resistance, and oxidative stress resistance of C. elegans as a model organism were evaluated to its anti-aging potential. The results showed that the yield of ACP-3-G was (73.42 ± 1.74)%, with higher contents of polysaccharide and uronic acid than ACP. In addition, ACP-3-G was a polysaccharide with a molecular mass of 120.6 kDa. Its monosaccharide composition included mannose (0.367%), rhamnose (2.384%), galacturonic acid (58.859%), glucose (4.501%), galactose (23.942%), and arabinose (9.307%). NMR analysis indicated that the main chain of the polysaccharide was primarily composed of disubstituted sugar residues →1)-α-Araf-(5→, →1)-α-GalpA-(4→, →1)-β-Galp-(4→, and trisubstituted sugar residues →1,3)-β-GalpA-(4→, →1,4)-β-Galp-(6→, and →1,2)-α-GalpA-(4→. Furthermore, ACP-3-G intervention at concentrations of 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1 000 μg/mL significantly improved the lifespan, motility, heat stress resistance, and oxidative stress resistance of C. elegans compared with the control group, with the most pronounced effects observed at 1 000 μg/mL. In conclusion, ACP-3-G is a polysaccharide with antioxidant and anti-aging properties.

Key words: Actinidia chinensis cv. Hongyang; polysaccharides; structural analysis; Caenorhabditis elegans; anti-aging; antioxidant