Saponaria officinalis Saponins

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. 

Cell suspension cultures of Gypsophila paniculata and Saponaria officinalis produce very closely related triterpenoid saponins. Pretreatment of cell suspension cultures of G. paniculata with gypsogenin 3,0-glucuxonide (a triterpenoid saponin precursor in G. paniculata) followed by administration of [ C] acetate resulted in a marked reduction in incorporation of radioactivity into saponins and their precursors, but not into sterols and steryl glycosides [26]. Measurements of OSC activities revealed that there was no effect of elicitor treatment on CS levels in either species, but in G. paniculata AS levels went down while in S. officinalis they increased. This suggests that in these two species OSCs are regulating steps in the isoprenoid pathway and control the flux to sterols and triter-penes. 

Jia Z, Koike K, Nikaido T (1999) Saponarioside C, the First a-D-Galactose Containing Triterpenoid Saponin, and Five Related Compounds from Saponaria officinalis. J Nat Prod 62 449... 

Saponaria. Soap wort soaproot fuller s herb bruisewort, bouncing bet. Herb and root of Saponaria officinalis L Caryophytlaceae. Habit. Europe to Middle Asia naturalized in U.S. Comfit Saponin, sapotoxin, saponarin. 

The defatted, air-dried plant material is extracted with methanol, either cold or hot, or with 50% aqueous methanol at ambient temperature. Fresh plant materials have to be processed immediately after collection to prevent fungal growth and enzymatic hydrolysis of the saponins. During extraction, care should be taken as saponins may undergo transformation, e.g. esterification of acidic saponins, hydrolysis of labile ester groups or transacylation, etc. Often the crude extract is suspended in water and partitioned using ethyl acetate and -butanol successively. Most of the saponin constituents are found in the -butanol soluble fraction. However, the low-polar saponin constituents may be present in the ethyl acetate part while the most highly polar saponins may be found in the aqueous layer, as in the case of Saponaria officinalis [2],... 

Sidhu et al. [50] have studied the effect of saponins from different sources with bile acids. Administration to rats of purified saponins from soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), soybean and quillaia (Quillaia saponaria) mixed with diet significantly reduced the rate of absorption of the bile salts soybean and soapwort saponins did so substantially, but quillaia saponin to a much lower extent. The authors have explained that due to the formation of large mixed micelles by bile acid and saponin molecules in aqueous solutions, bile acids were not available for absorption thus causing a reduction in the plasma cholesterol level. 

The immunostimulatory effects of saponins can be observed both in vivo and/or in vitro, and may either be directed against a specific antigen induced immune response (adjuvant effect), or to a nonspecific type of immune response. Induction of an adjuvant effect always takes place in vivo, whereas nonspecific stimulation may also take place in vitro. Presently, the bidesmosidic saponins from Quillaja saponaria Molina [16], and to some degree those from Gypsophila sp. and Saponaria officinalis [42], are the only saponins with effective and confirmed antigen-specific immunomodulatory activities in vivo. However, other saponins that show immunostimulatory activity in vitro and/or in vivo are also considered herein. 

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 ... 

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