| Summary: | <i>Mucor</i> sp. has a wide range of applications in the food fermentation industry. In this study, a novel exopolysaccharide, labeled MSEPS, was separated from <i>Mucor</i> sp. fermentation broth through ethanol precipitation and was purified by ion-exchange chromatography, as well as gel filtration column chromatography. MSEPS was composed mostly of mannose, galactose, fucose, arabinose, and glucose with a molar ratio of 0.466:0.169:0.139:0.126:0.015 and had a molecular weight of 7.78 × 10<sup>4</sup> Da. The analysis of methylation and nuclear magnetic resonance results indicated that MSEPS mainly consisted of a backbone of →3,6)-α-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">d</span>-Man<i>p</i>-(1→3,6)-β-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">d</span>-Gal<i>p</i>-(1→, with substitution at O-3 of →6)-α-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">d</span>-Man<i>p</i>-(1→ and →6)-β-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">d</span>-Gal<i>p</i>-(1→ by terminal α-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">l</span>-Ara<i>f</i> residues. MTT assays showed that MSEPS was nontoxic in normal cells (HK-2 cells) and inhibited the proliferation of carcinoma cells (SGC-7901 cells). Additionally, morphological analysis and flow cytometry experiments indicated that MSEPS promoted SGC-7901 cell death via apoptosis. Therefore, MSEPS from <i>Mucor</i> sp. can be developed as a potential antitumor agent.
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