Mucuna pruriens

Mucuna pruriens. Mehta and Majumdar state that the seeds contain two alkaloids mucunine, which forms a hydrochloride, m.p. 65°, and a platinichloride, m.p. >300°, and mucunadine, which is more basic and forms a hydrochloride, m.p. 75° (Ind. J. Pharm., 1944, 6, 92). 

Fisk JW, Hesterman OB, Shrestha A, Kells JJ, Harwood RR, Squire JM, Sheaffer CC (2001) Weed suppression by annual legume cover crops in no-tillage com. Agron J 93 319-325 Fujii Y (2003) Allelopathy in the natural and agricultural ecosystems and isolation of potent allelochemicals from velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa). Biol Sd Space 17 6-13... 

Donati D, Lampariello LR, Pagani R, Gnerranti R, Cinci G Marinello E. (2005) Antidiabetic oligocyclitols in seeds of Mucuna pruriens. Phytother Res 19 1057-1060. 

The powdered seeds of Mucuna pruriens L. have been used in Ayurvedic medicine for diseases of the nervous system and have shown to reduce adverse effects in PD patients. HP-200, a commercial extract of M. pruriens was shown to be twice as effective as the equivalent dose of L-DOPA in rats, although a later study showed that when the same preparation was given to rats over a 52 weeks period, it did not elevate DA levels in the striatum nigrum, but in the cortex. This calls into question whether the observed improvements in parkinsonian symptoms were due to the hypothesis originally proposed i.e. that the L-DOPA in the Mucuna extract was converted to DA and reached the parts of the brain where a deficiency is associated with PD. ... 

Adebowale, K. O., Lawal, O. S. (2003). Functional properties and retrogradation behaviour of native and chemically modified starch of mucuna bean (Mucuna pruriens). J. Sci. Food Agric., 83, 1541-1546. 

Mucuna pruriens Papilionacea Roots, seeds, fruit Sharma and Dwivedi (1997)... 

Kaizzi, C.K. Ssali, H. and P. Vlek (2004) The potential of velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) and N fertilizers in maize production on contrasting soils and agro-ecological zones of East Uganda.- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 68, 59-72. 

L-Canavanine (88), a nonprotein amino acid in legumes such as jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.), has been shown to inhibit growth of susceptible plant species.53 L-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA, 89) has been isolated as an allelochemical from a cover crop, velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. var. utilis).54... 

Since the discovery of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin, enteramine, thrombocytin) (VII), and the demonstration of its physiological activity and its important function as a neurohormone, the possibility of its occurrence in plants has attracted much attention. It was first shown to be present in Mucuna pruriens DC. (cowhage), and is probably responsible for the intense irritation which results when cowhage comes into contact with the skin (94). This irritation could be a mechanical effect due to the trichomes, but it is more likely to be the result of liberation of... 

Ananas comosus (Bromeliaceae), Hippophae rhamnoides (Elaeagnaceae), Mucuna pruriens (Fabaceae), Juglans regia (Juglandaceae), Musa sapientum (Musaceae), Lycopersicon esculentum (Solanaceae), Urtica dioica (Urticaceae)... 

Anadenanthera colubrina, Mucuna pruriens, Piptadenia peregrina,... 

Widespread from Tryptophan decarboxylation Mucuna pruriens, Prosopisjuliflora (mesquite) (Fabaceae), Lycopersicon esculentum (Solanaceae)... 

Ananas comosus (Bromeliaceae), Juglans regya (Juglandaceae), Mucuna pruriens (Fabaceae),... 

Mucuna pruriens cell cultures are known to hydroxylate a variety of phenolic compounds (Pras, 1990). The solubility of the phenolic steroid, 1713-estradiol (Fig. 6.1), is only 12 pM in culture medium and no biotransformation products could be detected after administration to freely suspended cells, immobilized cells or partially purified Mucuna phenoloxidase. Complexation with (3-cyclodextrin dramatically enhanced the solubility of 17(3-estradiol. Alginate-entrapped cells, cell homogenates and the phenoloxidase were able to o-hydroxylate 17(3-estradiol when supplied as the cyclodextrin complex, the most efficient biotransformation being achieved with the isolated enz)mrie (Woerdenbag et at, 1990). 

Woerdenbag, H., Pras, N., Frijlink, H., Lerk, C. and Malingre, T. (1990) Cyclodextrin-facilitated bioconversion of 17fJ-estradiol by a phenoloxidase from Mucuna pruriens cell cultures. Phytochemistry, 29,1551-4. 

Mucuna Hairs from fruits Mucuna pruriens East and West Indies... 

Mucuna pruriens (L) DC. ana Sexual asthenia (R) Water maceration... 

Mucuna pruriens Gongronema latifolium Fabaceae AntiparasiticSnakebite Diabetes, Digestive disorders, colic, worms and as a purgative 13, 17 17... 

Source Mucuna pruriens Molecular formula C12H16N2 O. 

Figure 16.3-12. Substrates for phenol oxidase from Mucuna pruriens. 5-, 6-, or 7-Hydroxylated 2-aminotetralins with R = H or C3H7 and 9-hydroxy-N-(n-propyl)-hexahydronaphthoxazine are substrates for the phenol oxidase.

The presence of nicotine has recently been reported in Dvboisia myoporoides R. Br. (41) and in Mucuna pruriens DC. (42). The work described by Dawson on tomato-tobacco grafts has been repeated with Nicotiana macrophylla Spreng, N. longiflora Cav., N. rusbyi Britton, N, trigonophylla Dun., and N. glutinosa L. his results have been confirmed (43). 

Based on knowledge of a biosynthetic pathway one can select certain steps which could be of interest for bioconversion of (a) readily available precursor(s). This could, for example, be stereospecific reactions, like the reduction of quinidinone in quinine or quinidine and the epoxidation of atropine to scopolamine. For the bioconversion one can consider using plant cells [e.g., the production of L-dopa from tyrosine by immobilized cells of Mucuna pruriens (10)] or isolated enzymes from the plant itself. An interesting example of the latter is the (5)-tetrahydroprotoberberine oxidase (STOX) enzyme, which oxidizes (5)-reticuline but not its stereoisomer (11). This feature can be used in the production of (i )-reticuline from a racemic mixture (see below). Immobilized strictosidine synthase has been successfully used to couple secologanin and tryptamine. The gene for this enzyme has been isolated from Rauvolfia (6) and cloned in Escherichia coli, in which it is expressed, resulting in the biosynthesis of active enzyme (7). The cultured bacteria produced 20 times more enzyme... 

N. Pras, Bioconversion Spectrum and Related Kinetic Aspects of Entrapped Cells of Mucuna pruriens L. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands, 1988. 

Shukla KK., Mahdi AA., Ahmad MK., Jaiswar SP., Shankwar SN. Tiwari SC. (2010). Mucuna pruriens reduces stress and improves the quality of semen in infertile men. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 137-144... 

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