ABSTRACT
Acidic arabinogalactan with molecular weight 36 kDa was isolated from the aerial part of Ferula kuhistаnica, the monosaccharide composition of which is represented by galactose and arabinose in a ratio of 3.6:1. The chemical and spectral methods revealed a main polymer chain consisting of (1 â 6) ß-galactopyranose residues, where in position of C-3 were the residues of α-arabinofuranose and its 1,5-linked oligomers, as well as ß-GlcpA-4-OMe-(1 â 6)-ß-Galp-(1â fragments. In addition, a small part of the main chain carries monosaccharide residues of ß-Galp-(1â in position C-2. The effect of arabinogalactan on the growth of an associative culture of bifidobacteria and some mono-strains of lactobacilli was studied and it was shown that it exhibits more effective prebiotic activity.