Taking Camellia oleifera seeds as raw materials, this study explored extraction and purification of glycoprotein separated from Camellia seeds as well as its antitumor activity, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the economic development of Camellia oleifera industry. Key impact factors of Camellia seed glycoprotein were extracted using buffer solution method and water extraction method and a regression model was set up. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium was used to evaluate the in vitro antitumor activity of glycoprotein extracted from Camellia seeds and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure its denaturation enthalpy value. Results indicated that protein and sugar yields were 8.96% and 17.05% respectively under optimal conditions when water extraction method was used. Crude glycoprotein extracted from Camellia oleifera had a certain inhibitory effect on human hepatoma cell HepG2, gastric cancer cell MGC-803 and breast cancer cell MCF-7 and crude glycoprotein extracted from Camellia oleifera by water-extraction and alcohol-precipitation method had a strong antitumor effect. Crude glycoprotein obtained in the two different ways was capable of scavenging DPPH, •OH and O2g- free radicals and also showed good reducing capacity. DSC measurement results revealed that specific rotation of
${\rm{COGP}}2{\rm{a}}\left[ \alpha \right]_n^{20} $
was - 32.5. Antitumor experiment in vitro showed that glycoprotein extracted from Camellia seeds in the two different ways had a certain inhibitory effect on HepG2, MGC-803 and MCF-7, which has important theoretical and realistic significances to promoting utilization value of camellia resources, strengthening Camellia oleifera’s comprehensive development and utilization of high added value as well as enriching types and functions of active glycoprotein.
