## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Composition of AmPS  
The percentage yield of the crude polysaccharide from _A. mellea_ was found to be 13.70% of d.w. Powdered fruiting bodies of the honey mushroom were prewashed with ethyl alcohol to remove low molecular constituents, e.g., phenolics. Then, proper extraction with hot water was carried out and the aqueous extract was deproteinized using Sevage reagent. The extraction steps were performed using the ultrasonic technique, which is recognized as an innovative, effective, and environmentally friendly method [23]. Preliminary determinations of the chemical composition of the AmPS were conducted using spectrophotometric techniques. This revealed that the AmPS was composed mostly of sugars, while uronic acids, proteins, and phenolics were present in rather small quantities (Table 1). The analysis of the glucan content in _A. mellea_ demonstrated that this mushroom was rich in \(\beta\)-glucans (26.68 g/100 g d.w.), while \(\alpha\)-glucans (1.06 g/100 g d.w.) constituted a marginal part of the total glucans (Table 1). The obtained results are in agreement with those found by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [24], showing that wild-growing _A. mellea_ contained 25.09 g/100 g d.w. of \(\beta\)-glucans and 1.11 g/100 g d.w. of \(\alpha\)-glucans. To evaluate the sugar composition of AmPS, the high-performance capillary electrophoresis technique was used. This method provides high separation efficiency and is a rapid analysis with high peak capacity. It also allows the detection of even trace levels of analytes [25]. During our study, the mixture of 10 carbohydrates was analyzed under optimized separation conditions. The migration order of the tested compounds was found to be myo-inositol, xylitol, mannitol, sucrose, fucose, galactose, glucose, mannose, then arabinose, indicating that sugar alcohols migrate first, followed by disaccharides, and hexoses migrate before pentoses. The total analysis time including rinsing of the capillary before separation was 35 min. The reproducibility of analyte separation was significantly improved by adding mineral oil to the separation buffer. Ultraviolet detection at 270 nm was used for the identification of the tested compounds. These compounds are involved in reaction cascades resulting in the formation of UV-absorbing anions [15]. The described HPCE method has previously been successfully used by us for the evaluation of the sugar composition of plant polysaccharides [26]. Further modifications allowed us to also apply it for mushroom samples. The presence of six peaks was found in AmPS during the HPCE analysis (Figure 1). These peaks were identified as myo-inositol, mannitol, fucose, galactose, glucose, and mannose according to their migration times. Our qualitative study revealed that crude polysaccharides from _A. mella_ contain various carbohydrates including sugar alcohols (myo-inositol and mannitol), hexoses (galactose, glucose, and mannose), and hexose deoxy sugar (tucose). Galactose was the main component of AmPS among hexoses, while mannitol was the predominant sugar alcohol. Mannose, glucose, and myo-inositol were found in smaller amounts, while fucose was detected in the lowest quantity. A previous study on polysaccharides from wild honey mushroom fruiting bodies from China showed the presence of mainly glucose as well as galactose and mannose [23]. [PERSON] et al. [27] reported that hydrolys of _A. mella_ polysaccharides obtained from cultured mycelia consisted of fucose, galactose, and xylose in a ratio of 6:5:4. Our results revealed the presence of sugar alcohols in polysaccharides from Polish _A. mella_ wild species for the first time, which distinguishes them from the previously studied polysaccharides of different origins. Therefore, this demonstrates that the origin of the mushroom may affect its composition, and our crude polysaccharides may possess different and new structures. The \({}^{1}\)H NMR spectrum (Figure 2) confirms and complements the information obtained from HPCE. The main component of the sample was mannitol.