Novel dextran from Pediococcus pentosaceus CRAG3 isolated from fermented cucumber with anti-cancer properties

The porous branched dextran of molecular mass 2.93 x 10(5) Da with 50% overall yield (4.5 mg/ml) was produced from Pediococcus pentosaceus CRAG3 (GenBank ID: JX679020), a novel isolate from fermented cucumber. It contained glucose monomers linked through 75% alpha-(1,6) linkage with 25% (alpha-1,3) branching as displayed by spectroscopic analysis. The peak analysis showed alpha-(1,3) branching after every five glucose units of main chain. In vitro cytotoxicity analysis of dextran displayed anti-cancer activity against cervical cancer (HeLa) and colon cancer (HT29) cell lines opening new horizons in its pharmaceutical applications. Dextran showed enhanced growth of macrophage lines revealing its biocompatible nature. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.