95 Curr. Issues Pharm. Med. Sci., Vol. 35, No. 2, Pages 95-98 Current Issues in Pharmacy and Medical Sciences Formerly ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS MARIAE CURIE-SKLODOWSKA, SECTIO DDD, PHARMACIA journal homepage: htp://www.curipms.umlub.pl/ © 2022 Author(s). Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) INTRODUCTION The genus Erigeron L. belonging to the family Astera- ceae, involves about 150 species occurring in the Northern Hemisphere zone, mainly in North America [1], however, some were introduced to Europe [2]. There are several species of Erigeron in Ukraine, including E. annuus, the most common [1]. E. annuus (daisy fea) is an annual plant, and reaches a height of 150 cm. This species has an erect, branched stem, fnished with inforescences. It often found at roadsides and in wastelands [3]. E. annuus has been used in Chinese folk medicine for the treatment of indi- gestion, enteritis, epidemic hepatitis and haematuria [4]. Some studies indicate that chloroform and n-hexane extracts from the roots of E. annuus show moderate antiproliferative effectiveness against MCF7 cells [5]. Moreover, the con- stituents of the aerial part of E. annuus have been reported to contain γ-pyranone derivatives, favonoids, phenolic acids and their derivatives, sesquiterpenoids, and cyclopentenone derivatives [6]. The chemical composition of E. annuus in Ukraine has, however, hardly been studied. Based on the collected information, the authors of the manuscript found Study and determination of fructan-type polysaccharide content in Erigeron annuus L Sergey Kovalev 1 * , A. Golovach 1 , Vladimir Kovalev 1 , Ewa Poleszak 2 * , Elshan Akhmedov 3 , Olga Bobrytska 4 1 Department of Pharmacognosy of the National University of Pharmacy, Kharkov, Ukraine 2 Chair and Department of Applied and Social Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 3 Department of Analytical Chemistry and Analytical Toxicology, National University of Pharmacy, Kharkov, Ukraine 4 Kharkiv State Zooveterinary Academy, Kharkov, Ukraine it interesting to determine the composition of polysaccha- rides in the plant. One of the widely distributed component from this group that occurs in chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, leek, onion and in the representatives of Asteraceae – is inulin. Inulin is a complex carbohydrate that belongs to a class of compounds known as inulin-type fructans. Inulin-type fructans are oligo-/polymers of D-fructose joined by β (2-1) bonds with an α (1-2) linked D-glucose at the end of the molecule. Molecules with degree of polymerization (DP) between 3 and 10 are referred to as ‘oligofructose’, and those with a DP between 10 and 65 are known as ‘inulin’. Inulin is found to share many of the properties of soluble dietary fbers, such as the ability to lower blood lipids and stabilize blood glucose level. Additionally, inulin-type fructans, galactooligosaccharides and lactulose have been shown to enhance the growth of bifdobacteria and lacto- bacillus, and promote the gut environment [7] already after a short feeding period. Bifdobacteria are able to break down and utilize inulin-type fructans because of their possession of the β-fructofuranosidase enzyme that provides a com- petitive advantage in a mixed-culture environment such as the human gut. Therefore, inulin-type fructans are able to ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received 02 January 2021 Accepted 10 March 2022 Fructan-type polysaccharidescomes from natural sources and occur in a large variety of plants, where they play important biological roles as reserve carbohydrate. One of the most commonly distributed compound from this group – inulin has been part of human daily diet for hundreds of years, as it is found in many fruits and vegetables, among others, bananas, onions and wheat. Te inulin-type fructans: inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are considered to be functional food elements, the consumption of which brings about health benefts. Indeed, inulin can be consumed to increase the dietary fber content. Fructan compounds, inulin and fructooligosaccharides have a strong bifdogenic efect, and have a positive action on the gut microbiota. In this work, we preformed gas- chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of Erigeron annuus L. herb. Te GC-MS analysis of carbohydrate composition confrmed the presence of free (arabinose, glucose, fructose 1, fructose 2) and fermented (arabinose, glucose, fructose 1, fructose 2, sucrose) carbohydrates at the quantity of 69.83 and 91.70 mg/g d.w., respectively. Keywords: inulin, fructooligosaccharides, fructan, GC-MS methods, Erigeron annuus L. DOI: 10.2478/cipms-2022-0018 * Corresponding author e-mail: kov.serg71@gmail.com, ewa.poleszak@umlub.pl