Sapogenin
Sapogenins are the aglycones, or non-saccharide, portions of the family of natural products known as saponins. Sapogenins contain steroid or other triterpene frameworks as their key organic feature. For example, steroidal sapogenins such as tiggenin, neogitogenin, and tokorogenin have been isolated from the tubers of ''Chlorophytum arundinaceum''. Some steroidal sapogenins can serve as a practical starting point for the semisynthesis of particular steroid hormone A steroid hormone is a steroid that acts as a hormone. Steroid hormones can be grouped into two classes: corticosteroids (typically made in the adrenal cortex, hence ''cortico-'') and sex steroids (typically made in the gonads or placenta). Wi ...s. Diosgenin and hecogenin are other examples of sapogenins. References Phytochemicals Triterpenes Alcohols {{organic-chem-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and as signaling molecules. Hundreds of steroids are found in plants, animals and fungi. All steroids are manufactured in cells from the sterols lanosterol (opisthokonts) or cycloartenol (plants). Lanosterol and cycloartenol are derived from the cyclization of the triterpene squalene. The steroid core structure is typically composed of seventeen carbon atoms, bonded in four " fused" rings: three six-member cyclohexane rings (rings A, B and C in the first illustration) and one five-member cyclopentane ring (the D ring). Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to this four-ring core and by the oxidation state of the rings. Sterols are forms of steroids with a hydroxy group at position three and a skeleton derived from cholestane. ''A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yamogenin
Yamogenin is a chemical compound of the class called sapogenins. It is found in the herb fenugreek Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredients ... (''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') and other plants. References Triterpenes Alcohols Spiro compounds Cyclopentanes Tetrahydrofurans Tetrahydropyrans {{alcohol-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diosgenin
Diosgenin, a phytosteroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of ''Dioscorea'' wild yam species, such as the Kokoro. The sugar-free (aglycone) product of such hydrolysis, diosgenin is used for the commercial synthesis of cortisone, pregnenolone, progesterone, and other steroid products. Sources It is present in detectable amounts in '' Costus speciosus'', '' Smilax menispermoidea'', ''Helicteres isora'', species of ''Paris'', ''Aletris'', ''Trigonella'', and ''Trillium'', and in extractable amounts from many species of ''Dioscorea'' – '' D. althaeoides'', '' D. colletti'', '' D. composita'', '' D. floribunda'', '' D. futschauensis'', '' D. gracillima'', '' D. hispida'', '' D. hypoglauca'', '' D. mexicana'', '' D. nipponica'', '' D. panthaica'', '' D. parviflora'', '' D. septemloba'', and '' D. zingiberensis''. Industrial uses Diosgenin is a precursor for several hormones, starting with the Marker ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chlorophytum Arundinaceum
''Chlorophytum'' (,''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 common name spider plant), is a genus of almost 200 species of evergreen Perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the Agavoideae, century plant subfamily within the Asparagaceae, asparagus family. The plants are native plant, native to the tropics, tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia, and Asia. They grow to 10–60 cm tall, with a rosette of long, slender leaf, leaves 15–75 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad and thick, fleshy Tuber#Root tubers, tuberous roots. The flowers are small, usually white, produced on sparse panicles up to 120 cm long; in some species the plants also reproduce vegetatively by means of plantlets, tiny plants that take root on touching the ground. ''Chlorophytum comosum'', the common Spider Plant, a native of South Africa, is a very popular houseplant especially in its variegated form 'Vittatum'. It is commonly grown in hanging pots suspended by ropes o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and others as traditional medicine. As a term, ''phytochemicals'' is generally used to describe plant compounds that are under research with unestablished effects on health, and are not scientifically defined as essential nutrients. Regulatory agencies governing food labeling in Europe and the United States have provided guidance for industry to limit or prevent health claims about phytochemicals on food product or nutrition labels. Definition Phytochemicals are chemicals of plant origin. Phytochemicals (from Greek ''phyto'', meaning "plant") are chemicals produced by plants through primary or secondary metabolism. They generally have biological activity in the plant host and play a role in plant growth or defense against competitors ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Steroid Hormone
A steroid hormone is a steroid that acts as a hormone. Steroid hormones can be grouped into two classes: corticosteroids (typically made in the adrenal cortex, hence ''cortico-'') and sex steroids (typically made in the gonads or placenta). Within those two classes are five types according to the receptors to which they bind: glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids (both corticosteroids) and androgens, estrogens, and progestogens (sex steroids). Vitamin D derivatives are a sixth closely related hormone system with homologous receptors. They have some of the characteristics of true steroids as receptor ligands. Steroid hormones help control metabolism, inflammation, immune functions, salt and water balance, development of sexual characteristics, and the ability to withstand injury and illness. The term steroid describes both hormones produced by the body and artificially produced medications that duplicate the action for the naturally occurring steroids. Synthesis The nat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Semisynthesis
Semisynthesis, or partial chemical synthesis, is a type of chemical synthesis that uses chemical compounds isolated from natural sources (such as microbial cell cultures or plant material) as the starting materials to produce novel compounds with distinct chemical and medicinal properties. The novel compounds generally have a high molecular weight or a complex molecular structure, more so than those produced by total synthesis from simple starting materials. Semisynthesis is a means of preparing many medicines more cheaply than by total synthesis since fewer chemical steps are necessary. Overview Drugs derived from natural sources are usually produced by isolation from the natural source or, as described here, by semisynthesis from such an isolated agent. From the viewpoint of chemical synthesis, living organisms are remarkable chemical factories that can easily produce structurally-complex chemical compounds by biosynthesis. In contrast, engineered chemical synthesis is necessar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tuber
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season, and as a means of asexual reproduction. ''Stem tubers'' form thickened rhizomes (underground stems) or stolons (horizontal connections between organisms); well known species with stem tubers include the potato and yam. Some writers also treat modified lateral roots (''root tubers'') under the definition; these are found in sweet potatoes, cassava, and dahlias. Terminology The term originates from the Latin , meaning "lump, bump, swelling". Some writers define the term "tuber" to mean only structures derived from stems; others use the term for structures derived from stems or roots., p. 124 Stem tubers A stem tuber forms from thickened rhizomes or stolons. The top sides of the tuber produce shoots that grow into typical stems ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aglycone
An aglycone (aglycon or genin) is the compound remaining after the glycosyl group on a glycoside is replaced by a hydrogen atom. For example, the aglycone of a cardiac glycoside would be a steroid molecule. Detection A way to identify aglycone is proposed to extract it from Agave spp. by using H-NMR and Heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC) experiments. The HMBC experiment can be combined with other techniques such as mass spectrometry to further examine the structure and the function of aglycone. Samples of glycones and glycosides from limonoids can be simultaneously quantified through a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, where a binary solvent system and a diode array detector separate and detect them at a sensitivity of 0.25-0.50 µg. Clinical significance A study on molecular markers in human aortic endothelial cells published that aglycone stopped cell migration but not monocyte adhesion, which is the initial step of atherosclerotic plaq ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |