A hypothesis of Mason & Kodicek [(1970) Biochem. J. 120, 515-521] that esterified nicotinic acid in niacytin from cereals is a precursor for trigonelline was investigated in rats. Single oral doses of niacytin resulted in the excretion of trigonelline in urine but only in rats that were niacin-deficient and were fed a cereal diet. These animals were found to have an abnormally permeable intesti...

fenugreek (trigonella foenum-graecum l.) has a long and respected history of medicinal uses in middle east and persian medicine. the hypocholesterolaemic and hypoglycaemic effects of fenugreek were attributed to its major steroidal sapogenin, diosgenin and its major alkaloid, trigonelline. the knowledge of diosgenin and trigonelline biosynthesis is derived from studies of cholesterol and nicoti...

There is evidence that Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (fenugreek), a traditional Chinese herb, and its components are beneficial in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and central nervous system disease. The pharmacological activities of trigonelline, a major alkaloid component of fenugreek, have been more thoroughly evaluated than fenugreek's other components, especially with regard to diab...

Aerial parts of 38 taxa, distributed in 21 genera and all three subfamilies of the Bromeliaceae have been examined for the presence of betaines. Glycinebetaine and trigonelline were isolated from all the plants studied, although the yields of both compounds were low. For glycinebetaine, values (based upon dry weight) varied from 0.0004% for Pitcairnia corallina to 0.087% for Tillandsia usneoide...

Leucaena leucocephala is a nitrogen-fixing tropical leguminous tree that produces two pyridine alkaloids, i. e. mimosine [beta-(3-hydroxy-4-pyridon-1-yl)-L-alanine] and trigonelline (1-methylpyridinium-3-carboxylate). Mimosine has been detected in leaves, flowers, pods, seeds, and roots, and it is one of the principal non-protein amino acids that occurs in all organs. Asparagine was the most ab...

BACKGROUND Trigonella foenum-graecum (L.) (Fabaceae, Fenugreek) is an important ingredient of Ayurvedic and other marketed herbal formulations. Fenugreek seeds are employed in many traditional systems as an antibacterial and antidiabetic agent, gastric stimulant and galactogogue. Trigonelline, a major phytoconstituent found in fenugreek seeds, shows estrogenic, anti-diabetic and anti-invasive a...

Diabetes is a serious health problem and a source of risk for numerous severe complications such as obesity and hypertension. Treatment of diabetes and its related diseases can be achieved by inhibiting key digestive enzymes related to starch and lipid digestion. The findings revealed that the administration of trigonelline to surviving diabetic rats helped to protect the pancreas β-cells from ...