Saponins calendula

Calendula officinalis (marigold) contains a variety of carotenoids, saponins, steroids, sesquiterpenoids, and triterpenoids. 

B Saponins in Calendulae and Primulae flos For the separation of saponin glycosides, the... 

In vitro cytotoxic activity of calendula extracts was observed in MRC5, Hep2, and Ehrlich cell lines. When the same extracts were tested in mice, one was inactive and three were poorly active, whereas the most saponin-rich extract did not produce development of ascites (Boucaud-Maitre et al. 1988). 

Elias, R., M. Demeo, E. VidaloUivier, et al. 1990. Antimutagenic activity of some saponins isolated from Calendula officinalis L., Calendula arvensis L. and Hedera helix L. Mutagenesis 5 (4) 327-331. Fiume, M. 2001. Final report on the safety assessment of Calendula officinalis extract and Calendula officinalis. Int. f. Toxicol. 20(SuppL 2) 13-20. 

In a bioassay-oriented fractionation of Calendula officinalis flower extracts, the most potent anti-inflammatory activity was found to he in the free triterpenes, rather than the saponins. While several active triterpenes were identified, the most active was faradiol monoester (Della Loggia et al. 1994). 

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