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Recent progress in phytochemistry, pharmacology and biotechnology of Astragalus saponins

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Abstract

Saponins are widely distributed among plant kingdom and possess a wide range of pharmacological properties. Genus Astragalus is the largest in the Fabaceae family, comprising more than 2,200 species spread over the Globe. Astragalus species have been used in traditional medicine of many countries as well as in the modern one. The main use in the folk medicine of the species is due to their saponin content. The paper is focused on the above mentioned group of compounds. Details on their structure, distribution, recent information on the pharmacological properties and biotechnology of Astragalus saponins will be summarized and thoroughly discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from Ministry of Education and Science, Sofia, Bulgaria (DFNI-B01/3/2012) is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Sofia, 2 Dunav St., 1000, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Iliana Ionkova, Aleksandar Shkondrov & Ilina Krasteva

  2. Department of Automation, Faculty of Automatics, Technical University of Sofia, 8 Kl. Ohridski Blvd., 1756, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Todor Ionkov

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  1. Iliana Ionkova
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  2. Aleksandar Shkondrov
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Correspondence to Ilina Krasteva.

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Ionkova, I., Shkondrov, A., Krasteva, I. et al. Recent progress in phytochemistry, pharmacology and biotechnology of Astragalus saponins. Phytochem Rev 13, 343–374 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-014-9347-3

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