Phytolacca dodecandra

Interest in chemical variation in Phytolacca dodecandra L Hert. stems from its potentially important biologically active constituents, perhaps the most significant of which is the mollnscicidal componnd lemmatoxin. Attempts to measure variation within this taxon, which occnrs widely on the African continent, have involved a stndy of morphological featnres (Adams et al., 1989) and the comparative chemical work to be described here (Adams et al., 1990). This more recent study involved analysis of nonpolar constitnents from three populations from Ethiopia, and one... 

Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolaccaceae) in Africa geographic variation. Taxon 38 17-26. 

GollPH, Lemma A, Duncan], MazengiaB, Control of schistosomiasis in Adwa, Ethiopia, using the plant molluscicide endod Phytolacca dodecandra), Tropen-medizin Parasitologic 34 177-183, 1983. 

In this context Phytolacca dodecandra, a medicinal plant (berries) that grows between 1600 and 3000 m asl in Ethiopia and other parts of eastern Africa has been studied in its capacity to become genetically differentiated along elevational gradients. Results of random amplified... 

This group comprises drugs mainly used for trematode infections such as e.g. schistosomiasis. Various plant extracts have been tested in Africa and Latin America with promising results, e.g. Phytolacca- dodecandra. L Her (Endod or soapberry) which contains saponins which kill the snails which act as vectors for the parasite. 

As shown, LC/ES-MS of saponins gives few fragments and complementary techniques such as MS/MS are needed to obtain more structural information on the sugar sequence. In order to illustrate this approach, the sugar sequence of some saponins of Phytolacca dodecandra L Herit (Phytolaccaceae) were tentatively identified on-line by LC/MS/MS. The dried berries of this plant, are used in Ethiopia as a soap substitute. The molluscicidal properties of their constituents were discovered by Lemma in 1965 and this plant became rapidly of great importance for the local control of schistosomieisis. 

The saponins from Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolacca-ceae) contain a mixture of triterpene glycosides (mainly based on oleanolic acid) that are highly active against several of die intermediate snail hosts of schistosomiasis. This was first discovered by the observation of dead snails along streams in Ethiopia where the fruits of Phytolacca are used for laundry purposes (Hostettmann, 1985 Hostettmann et al., 1991). To date, one of the most effective sources of moUuscicidal saponins is the fruit of Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolaccaceae). These fruits contain up to 25% glycosides. 

A saponin isolated from the Zimbabwean plant Phytolacca dodecandra, own to have molluscicidal activity, contains a P-Gal(l-+3)-P-Glc disaccharide unit. ... 

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