Abstract
Many species of the west African “soap tree” Dracaena are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases. In continuation of our search for anti-infective agents from plants implicated in traditional medicine, we evaluated the biological activities of saponins from extracts of Dracaena mannii and Dracaena arborea by using a battery of test systems such as radiorespirometry, Cytosensor®, bioautography, and agar dilution methods and molluscicidal tests.
Bioassay-directed fractionation of the methanol extracts of seed pulp using a combination of chromatographic techniques, gel filtration, droplet countercurrent chromatography (DCCC), and low-pressure liquid chromatography (Lobar), led to the isolation and characterization of spiroconazole A, a pennogenin triglycoside [3β-O-{(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2), α-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→3)-β-D-glucopyranosyl}-17α-hydroxylspirost-5-ene] (Fig. 1). As the active constituent, spiroconazole A exhibited pronounced antileishmanial, antimalarial, and molluscicidal activities. This paper also reports on the fungistatic, fungicidal and bacteriostatic activity of spiroconazole A against 17 species of fungi and 4 of bacteria.
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Okunji, C.O., Iwu, M.M., Jackson, J.E., Tally, J.D. (1996). Biological Activity of Saponins from Two Dracaena Species. In: Waller, G.R., Yamasaki, K. (eds) Saponins Used in Traditional and Modern Medicine. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 404. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1367-8_33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1367-8_33
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