Saponins on Agave Plants: Importance, Occurrence, and Analysis Book in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2019 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.Saponins are naturally occurring compounds that are widely distributed in plant materials. They are found in many different plant families including the Agavaceae family. Saponins are secondary metabolites that act as a chemical barrier or shield in the plant defense system to counter pathogens and herbivores. The saponins are gaining interest as health-promoting components of the plants because they have hemolytic, molluscicidal, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antitumoral, and antiviral properties. Even when saponincontaining plants had been employed for hundreds of years in folk medicine, especially from the Orient; recently, saponins have been gaining importance as drugs. In the pharmaceutical industry, saponins have been used in the treatment of diseases such as cancer, diabetics, and hypertension among others; moreover, saponins are also the starting point of the semi-synthesis of steroidal drugs. Saponins are widely spread in the Agavaceae family and have been studied in species like A. americana, A. attenuata, A. decipiens, A. sisalana, and A. macroacantha among many others. The abundance of agave species and the invaluable importance of saponins in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, has led to the development of analytical techniques for the extraction and quantification of those substances. Saponin extraction techniques vary from the conventional techniques like maceration, Soxhlet, and reflux extraction, to green technologies like ultrasound-assisted, microwave-assisted, and accelerated solvent extraction; while saponin analytical techniques, are mainly spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods which are selected depending on the objective of the study. The choice of the appropriate extraction and quantification technique for saponins on agave plants is vital for the proper study of their properties or their further use on medicine or cosmetic industry.

publication date

  • January 1, 2019