Quillaja saponaria

The first soaps were probably the saps of plants such as Chloro-galum pomeridianum, the roots of which can be crushed in water to form a lather. Other plants, such as soapbark (Quillaja saponaria), soapberry (Sapindus mukorossi), and soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) also contain the same main ingredient, a compound called saponin, which forms the foamy lather. 

Holtshausen, L., Chaves, A. V., Beauchemin, K. A., McGinn, S. M., McAllister, T. A., Odongo, N. E., Cheeke, P. R., and Benchaar, C. (2009). Feeding saponin-containing Yucca schidigera and Quillaja saponaria to decrease enteric methane production in dairy cows. /. Dairy Sci. 92, 2809-2821. 

Quillaia Quillaja saponaria (Rosaceae) Quillaic acid... 

So H-S, et al. Effect of a novel saponin adjuvant derived from Quillaja saponaria on the immune response to recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen. Mol Cells 1996 7(2) 178 186. 

Quillaia bark or soapbark is derived from the tree Quillaja saponaria (Rosaceae) and other Quillaja species found in Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. The bark contains up to 10% saponins, a mixture known as commercial saponin , which is used for its detergent properties. Quillaia s surfactant properties are occasionally exploited in pharmaceutical preparations where it is used in the form of quillaia tincture as an emulsifying agent, particularly for fats, tars, and volatile oils. The bark contains a mixture of saponins which on hydrolysis liberates quillaic acid (Figure 5.62) as the aglycone, together with sugars, uronic acids, and acids from ester functions. 

Nature utilizes surfactants for a variety of additional roles. A natural surfactant, using a strict definition, is a surfactant taken directly from a natural source (isolated by a separation procedure from either a plant or an animal origin).42 Lecithin, obtained either from soybean or from egg yolk, is probably the best example of a truly natural surfactant. Other natural originated surfactants are the various soap-like surfactants for the removal of fatty/oily substances. These compounds produce a rich lather when dispersed into water and are found in various natural systems (such as chestnuts, in leaves and seeds of Saponaria Officinalis (soapwort), in the bark of the South American soaptree Quillaja saponaria Molina and in the fruits of Acacia Auriculiformis (Figure 7.2) 43,44... 

N.T. Nyberg, H. Baumaim, and L. Kenne, Solid-phase extraction NMR studies of chromatographic fractions of saponins from Quillaja Saponaria, Anal. Chem. 75 (2003), 268-274. 

Saponins are glycosides found in certain plants which are characterized by their property of producing a frothing aqueous solution. The term saponin is derived from the Latin sapo meaning soap. Plant materials containing saponins have been used for a long time in many parts of the world for their detergent properties, for example, in Europe, the root of Sapo-naria officinalis and in South America the bark of Quillaja saponaria ... 

The saponin structure is either of the steroidal (commonly tetracyclic triterpenoids) or pentacyclic triterpenoid type. Triterpenoid saponins are found, for example in Quillaia bark and in liquorice root. Quillaia B.P. is defined as the dried inner part of the bark of Quillaja saponaria and other species of Quillaja and is used as an emulsifying agent. Liquorice, the root of which also contains tiiterpenoid saponins, has long been used in pharmacy as a flavoring agent, demulcent, and mild expectorant. 

Iscoms (Immune-stimulating complexes) are stable complexes of cholesterol, phospholipid, and Quil A (derived from Quillaja saponaria) in size ranges from 40 to lOOnm. They are promising carriers for antigens in subunit vaccines. Iscoms are considered to be multi-micellar structures, shaped and stabilized by hydro-phobic interactions, electrostatic repulsion, steric factors and possibly hydrogen bonds. Protection... 

The saponins of the bark of the Quillaja saponaria Molina tree have long been known to have immuno-stimulatory activity. A partially purified fraction, Quil A, has reduced toxicity and more potent adjuvant activity and is used in veterinary vaccines. Quil A can be further fractionated into fractions that have different degrees of toxicity. QS-21 is a less toxic component with strong adjuvant activity. Saponins probably act... 

Quillaja N.F. Bark Quillaja Saponaria Chile and Peru... 

Sixty saponins, differing in carbohydrate substructures Glycosylated triterpenes Tree Quillaja saponaria var. Molina Preparative RPC UV at 206 nm ESI ion trap multiple stage tandem mass spectrometry 152... 

QUILLAIA BARK Quillajae cortex is the bark of Quillaja saponaria, Molina, family Rosaceae, from which the cork is removed. This species is an evergreen tree in Chile (in the valleys of the Cordilleras), Peru and Bolivia. The drug consists of the inner bark which is generally cut before marketing. It has an acrid taste and causes sneezing. The bark contains about 10% of a saponin mixture (Quillaia saponin), which besides its use as an expectorant also has a technical use and as an adjuvant in some vaccines as the saponin potentiates the immunising power of the vaccine. 

S. Guo and L. Kenne, Characterization of some O-acetylated saponins from Quillaja saponaria Molina, Phytochemistry, 54 (2000) 613-615. 

The only vaccine adjuvants currently licensed by the FDA are aluminium salts. All other adjuvants are considered experimental and must undergo special preclinical testing. In the search for well-characterized adjuvants, the saponins from Quillaja saponaria, having quillaic acid as aglycone were shown to be potent immune adjuvants, such as Quil A (a purified mixture of 23 saponins), Iscoprep 7 0 3 which is a mixture of well characterized saponin fraction QH-A, QH-B, QH-C in a ratio 7 0 3 and the pure saponins QS-7, QS-17, QS-18, QS-21 (31) [41] (see Fig. (2)) and QS-L1 (32) [42]. 

Fig. (2). Adjuvant effect for stimulation of IgG Comparison of purified Quillaja saponaria saponins to other adjuvants. CD-I mice (5 per group) were immunized intradermaliy with lOpg cytochrome l>5 and the indicated adjuvant. The alum formulation consisted of 400 pg of aluminium hydroxide per dose. All saponins (QS-7, QS-17, QS-18, and QS-21) were used at 20 pg per dose. EIA titers were determined after two immunizations. The results are expressed as the mean of logio titers for individual mice per group. The error bar is 1 standard deviation. Reprinted from Kensil etal.,J. Immunol. 1991, 146 431-437, copyright 1991, with permission from The American Association of Immunologists.

Recently a novel saponin designated as QS-L1 from Quillaja saponaria (32) was shown to be active as adjuvant only when administered in the presence of alum-precipitated antigen. QS-L1 greatly increased not only a humoral immune response but also a cellular immune response to recombinant hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) with low toxicity in vitro and in vivo [42],... 

China bark Murillo bark. Inner dried bark of Quillaja saponaria Molina, Rosaceae. Habit. South America (Peru, Chile) cultivated in Northern Hindustan. Constit Quillaic acid, quillajasaponin, sucrose, tannin. 

Other saponins from Quillaja saponaria are known to have adjuvant activity for the stimulation of antibody responses. A saponin QS-7 (115, Fig. 6) is of particular interest [95]. This saponin is more hydrophilic than QS-21 (114) having a shorter acyl chain substitution than QS-21 and was shown to induce at a dose of 40 fig a cell-mediated immune response to HlV-lgpl20 and OVA in mice (similar to that induced by a 5-10 fig dose of QS-21). 

---