US EPA

1385806 

Journal Article 

Isolation and identification of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) root saponins: Their activity in relation to a fungal bioassay 

Oleszek, W; Price, KR; Colquhoun, IJ; Jurzysta, M; Ploszynski, M; Fenwick, GR 

1990 

Yes 

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
ISSN: 0021-8561
EISSN: 1520-5118 

BIOSIS/91/31475 

38 

9 

1810-1817 

eng 

BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Nine triterpene glycosides have been isolated from alfalfa (Medicago sativa) roots and their structures elucidated by using chromatographic, chemical, and spectroscopic techniques. Six of these saponins were identified as being glycosides of medicagenic acid, two of hederagenin, and one of soyasapogenol B. The compounds containing medicagenic acid could be further subdivided into analogues of either 3-O-glucoside or 3-O-glucuronide of mediagenic acid. The presence of the latter group has not been previously reported. Activity against the fungus Trichoderma viride has been determined for each of the saponins, and their structure-activity relationship is discussed with regard to a fungal bioassay routinely used for saponin determination. 

Methods; Radiation-Radiation and Isotope Techniques; Comparative Biochemistry; Biochemical Methods-General; Biochemical Studies-General; Biochemical Studies-Lipids; Biochemical Studies-Carbohydrates; Biophysics-General Biophysical Techniques; Biophysics-Molecular Properties and Macromolecules; Pharmacology-General; Microbiological Apparatus; Medical and Clinical Microbiology-Mycology; Chemotherapy-Antifungal Agents; Morphology; Plant Physiology; Plant Physiology; Plant Physiology; Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany; Fungi Imperfecti or Deuteromycetes; Leguminosae