Hecogenin plant sources

A pilot plant ia India has been estabUshed to extract fiber, pulp, and juice from the leaves of sisal plants. The fiber is sold direcdy or used to manufacture rope, the cmshed pulp is used ia paper processiag, and the juice is an excellent source of hecogenin. During a three- to five-day fermentation of the juice, partial enzymatic hydrolysis causes hecogenin to precipitate as the hemisaponin ia the form of a fine sludge. This sediment is hydrolyzed with aqueous hydrochloric acid, neutralized, and filtered. This filter cake is washed with water and extracted with alcohol. The yield of hecogenin varies between 0.05 and 0.1% by the weight of the leaf (126). 

The sisal plant belongs to the family Agave, genus Agave. Several species, similar in appearance and habit, produce commercially useful fiber. The juices obtained in decortication of the variety Agave sisalana (Tanzania, Kenya, China) are the source of Hecogenin, in commercial quantities, which has been used as a precursor in the production of corticosteroids [45,94]. 

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