Abstract:To investigate the lipid-lowering activity of fingered citron polysaccharides (FCP) in patients with hyperlipidemia, polysaccharides were extracted from fingered citron using hot water extraction. The yield of crude FCP was 8.52%, with a water solubility of 38.42% and a water-holding capacity of 15.51%. After isolation and purification, two polysaccharide fractions, FCP-N1 and FCP-N2, were obtained, both of which exhibited a filamentous network structure. The in vitro lipid-lowering activities of these two fractions were evaluated by comparing their bile salt binding capacity, cholesterol adsorption capacity, cholesterol esterase inhibition, and pancreatic lipase inhibition. At a mass concentration of 2 mg•mL-1, the binding rates of FCP-N1 and FCP-N2 to taurocholate were 36.62% and 38.33%, respectively, while those to glycocholate were 43.38% and 45.31%, respectively. At pH 2.0, the cholesterol adsorption capacities of FCP-N1 and FCP-N2 were 13.99 mg•g-1 and 18.95 mg•g-1, respectively. At pH 7.0, the corresponding values increased to 24.90 mg•g-1 and 30.01 mg•g-1, respectively. Under the same mass concentration, the inhibition rates of FCP-N1 and FCP-N2 were 54.82% and 57.21%, respectively. At a mass concentration of 2.0 mg•mL-1, the pancreatic lipase inhibition rates were 60.36% and 69.56%, respectively. These findings demonstrate that fingered citron polysaccharides exhibit notable in vitro lipid-lowering activity, with FCP-N2 showing superior efficacy. This study provides a scientific basis for the potential use application of FCP in the management of hyperlipidemia.