The water-soluble polysaccharides isolated from the leaves of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer were totally fractionated into one neutral fraction（GLPN-1）, six acidic fractions（GLPN-2, GLPA-1a, GLPA-1b, GLPA-1c, GLPA-2 and GLPA-3） by a combination of ethanol precipitation, ion-exchange and gel permeation chromatography. All the fractions were analyzed by determining monosaccharide composition, molecular weight distribution. The resuits show that GLPN-1 was mainly composed of Gal（38.1%） and Ara（33.6%） and presumed to be an arabinogalactan. GLPA-1a, GLPA-1b and GLPA-2 mainly contained Gal, Ara, Rha and GalA. The amount of Gal and Ara acounted for over 50% of total sugar and the amount of Rha was more than 10%. The molar ratios of Rha/GalA in GLPA-1a, GLPA-1b and GLPA-2 were 1：1, 1：2 and 1：2.7, respectively, indicating that they belong to type-1 rhamnogalacturonan （RG-1）-rich pectin. GLPA-1c was mainly composed of GalA（78%）, belonging to homogalacturonan（HG）-rich pectin. GLPA-3 might be a glycoprotein.
NI Xiu-zhenWANG Bing-qingZHI YuanWEI Ning-ningZHANG XuLI Shan-shanTAI Gui-huaZHOU Yi-faZHAO Ji-ming
