northeast of China and Korea. Its root bark has been used as a folk medicine for tonic, anti-arthritic, and anti-diabetic effect. The young shoot of A. elata is a popular edible plant, especially in the spring in Korea and Japan. Many saponins have been isolated from this plant, and were reported to show anti-diabetic activity, cytoprotective effect on CCl4induced hepatic injury, ethanol absorp...

BACKGROUND Panax notoginseng is an important Chinese medicinal plant. Dammarene-type triterpenoid saponins are main pharmacologically effective compounds in P. notoginseng. This study aims to investigate the formation and accumulation of saponins in P. notoginseng roots during germination and juvenile stage. METHODS P. notoginseng seeds were collected and stored in wet sand. After germination...

Primula veris L. is an important medicinal plant with documented use for the treatment of gout, headache and migraine reaching back to the Middle Ages. Triterpenoid saponins from roots and flowers are used in up-to-date phytotherapeutic treatment of bronchitis and colds due to their expectorant and secretolytic effects. In addition to the wild type plants with yellow petals, a red variant and a...

Eryngium L. is the largest and arguably the most taxonomically complex genus of the family Apiaceae. The genus has approximately 250 species throughout the world, with the center of diversity in South America. Some Eryngium species are cultivated as ornamental, vegetable, or medicinal crops for folk uses. With increasing chemical and biological investigations, Eryngium has shown its potential a...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Candidiasis, an important fungal infection, is considered the fourth most common nosocomial blood stream infection. Nowadays, because of increased fungal resistance to antibiotics, the use of herbal medicine has gained particular attention. Cyclamen species are medicinal plants containing triterpenoid saponins, which are shown to have antimicrobial properties. MATERIALS...

G. pentaphyllum (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), a creeping herbaceous perennial with many important medicinal properties, is widely distributed in Asia. Gypenosides (triterpenoid saponins), the main effective components of G. pentaphyllum, are well studied. FPS (farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase), SS (squalene synthase), and SE (squalene epoxidase) are the main enzymes involved in the synthesis of tri...