Biological activity of saponins from two Dracaena species

Adv Exp Med Biol. 1996:404:415-28. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4899-1367-8_33.

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 [3 beta-O-[(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2), alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->3)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-17 alpha-hydroxyl-spirost-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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antifungal Agents / isolation & purification
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology
  • Antimalarials / isolation & purification
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Fungi / drug effects
  • Leishmania / drug effects
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molluscacides / isolation & purification
  • Molluscacides / toxicity
  • Plants, Medicinal / chemistry*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / drug effects
  • Saponins / chemistry
  • Saponins / pharmacology*
  • Snails / physiology

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Antimalarials
  • Molluscacides
  • Saponins