Abstract
Hemolytic and antibacterial activities of eight serial concentrations ranged from 5-666 µg/mL of saponin-rich extracts from guar meal (GM), quillaja, yucca, and soybean were tested in 96-well plates and read by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plate-well as 650 nm. Hemolytic assay used a 1% suspension of chicken red blood cells with water and phosphate buffered saline as positive and negative controls, respectively. Antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, and Escherichia coli were evaluated using ampicillin and bacteria without saponin-rich extract as positive and negative controls, respectively. The 100% MeOH GM and commercial quillaja saponin-rich extracts were significantly the highest in both hemolytic and antibacterial activities against all bacteria at the same concentration tested. Soybean saponin-rich extract had no antibacterial activity against any of the bacteria at the concentrations tested while yucca saponin-rich extract had no antibacterial activity against the gram-negative bacteria at the concentrations tested. GM and quillaja saponin-rich extracts were hemolytic, while yucca and soybean saponin-rich extracts were not hemolytic at the concentrations tested. No saponin-rich extract source had antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium or E. coli at the concentrations tested. Both GM and quillaja saponin-rich extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus. Saponin-rich extracts from different plant sources have different hemolytic and antibacterial activities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wallace, R. J. (2004). Antimicrobial properties of plant secondary metabolites. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 63, 621–629.
Murry, A. C., Jr., Hinton, A., Jr., & Morrison, H. (2004). Inhibition of growth of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Clostridia perfringens on chicken feed media by Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus plantarum. International Journal of Poultry Science, 3, 603–607.
Van Immerseel, F., Russell, J. B., Flythe, M. D., Gantois, I., Timbermont, L., Pasmans, F., et al. (2006). The use of organic acids to combat Salmonella in poultry: A mechanistic explanation of the efficacy. Avian Pathology, 35, 182–188.
Moore, R. W., Byrd, J. A., Knape, K. D., Anderson, R. C., Callaway, T. R., Edrington, T., et al. (2006). The effect of an experimental chlorate product on Salmonella recovery of turkeys when administered prior to feed and water withdrawal. Poultry Science, 85, 2101–2105.
Vicente, J. L., Torres-Rodriguez, A., Higgins, S. E., Pixley, C., Tellez, G., & Hargis, B. M. (2005). Effect of a probiotic culture on horizontal transmission of Salmonella enteritidis in turkey poults. Poultry Science, 84(Suppl.1), 101. Abstr.
Sen, S., Makkar, H. P. S., Muetzel, S., & Becker, K. (1998). Effect of Quillaja saponaria saponins and Yucca schidigera plant extract on growth of Escherichia coli. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 27, 35–38.
Avato, P., Bucci, R., Tava, A., Vitali, C., Rosato, A., Bialy, Z., et al. (2006). Antimicrobial activity of saponins from Medicago spp.: Structure-activity relationship. Phytotherapy Research, 20, 454–457.
Curl, C. L., Price, R. K., & Fenwick, G. R. (1986). Isolation and structural elucidation of a triterpenoid saponin from guar, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba. Phytochemistry, 25, 2675–2676.
Kaneda, N., Nakanishi, H., & Staba, J. (1987). Steroidal constituents of Yucca schidigera plants and tissue cultures. Phytochemistry, 26, 1425–1429.
Khalil, A. H. & EI-Adawy, T. A. (1994). Isolation, identification and toxicity of saponin from different legumes. Food Chemistry, 50, 197–201.
Hassan, S. M., Haq, A. U., Byrd, J. A., Berhow, A. M., Cartwright, A. L.,& Bailey, C. A. (2010). Hemolytic and antimicrobial activities of saponin-rich extracts from guar meal. Food Chemistry, 119, 600–605.
Duncan, D. B. (1955). Multiple ranges and multiple F test. Biometrics, 11, 1–42.
Oleszek, W. (1988). Solid phase extraction fractionation of alfalfa saponins. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 44, 43–49.
Choi, S., Jung, S. Y., Kim, C. H., Kim, H. S., Rhim, H., Kim, S. C., et al. (2001). Effect of ginsenosides on voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel subtypes in bovine chromaffin cells. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 74, 75–81.
Oleszek, W. (1996). Alfalfa saponins: Structure, biological, activity, and chemotaxonomy. In G. R. Waller & K. Yamasaki (Eds.), Saponins used in food and agriculture (pp. 155–170). NewYork: Plenum Press.
Birk, Y., Bondi, A., Gestetner, B., & Ishaaya, I. (1963). A thermostable hemolytic factor in soybeans. Nature, 197, 1089–1090.
Takechi, M., & Tanaka, Y. (1995). Structure-activity relationship of synthetic methyl urosylate glycosides. Phytochemistry, 34, 675–677.
Santos, W. R., Bernardo, R. R., Pecanha, L. M. T., Palatink, M., Parente, J. P., & Palatink de Sousa, C. B. (1997). Hemolytic activities of plant saponins and adjuvant. Effect of Peria ndra mediterranea saponin the humoral response to the FML antigen of Leishmania donovani. Vaccine, 15, 1024–1029.
Jenkins, K. J., & Atwal, A. S. (1994). Effects of dietary saponins on fecal bile acids and neutral sterols, and availability of vitamins A and E in the chick. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 5, 134–138.
Gestetner, B., Birk, Y., & Tencer, Y. (1968). Soybean saponins. Fate of ingested saponins and the physiological aspect of their hemolytic activity. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 16, 1031–1035.
Gee, J. M., Price, K. R., Johnson, I. T., & Rhodes, M. J. (1998). The relationship between saponin structure and bioactivity—a preliminary study, in Cost 98: Effects of Antinutrients on The Nutritional Value of Legume Diets. In S. Bardocz & A. Pusztai (Eds.), European Commission, Luxemburg, pp. 8–14.
Gestetner, B., Assa, Y., Henis, Y., Birk, Y., & Bondi, A. (1971). Lucerne saponins, relationship between their chemical constitution, and hemolytic and antifungal activities. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 22, 168–172.
Mahato, S. B., Sudip, S. K., & Poddar, G. (1988). Review article number 38: Triterpenoid saponins. Phytochemistry, 27, 3037–3067.
Kuznetzova, T. A., Anisimov, M. M., & Popov, A. M. (1982). A comparative study in vitro of physiological activity of triterpene glycosides of marine invertebrates of echinoderm type. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 73c, 41–43.
Namba, T., Yoshsaki, M., Tomimori, T., Kobashi, K., Mitsui, K., & Hase, J. (1973). Hemolytic and protective activity of ginseng saponins. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 21, 459–461.
Laurence, V., Pauline, G., Clément, F., Odile, T., Marc, L., & Catherine, L. (2005). Hemolytic acylated triterpenoid saponins from Harpullia austro caledonica. Phytochemistry, 66, 825–835.
Pillion, D. J., Amsden, J. A., Kensil, C. R., & Recchia, J. (1996). Structure-function relationship among quillaja saponins serving as excipients for nasal and ocular delivery of insulin. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 85, 518–524.
Hu, M., Konoki, K., & Tachibana, K. (1996). Cholesterol-independent membrane disruption caused by triterpenoid saponins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Acta Lipid Metabolism, 1299, 252–258.
Morrissey, J. P., & Osbourn, A. E. (1999). Fungal resistance to plant antibiotics as a mechanism of pathogenesis. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 63, 708–724.
Wang, Y., McAllister, T. A., Yanke, L. J., & Cheeke, P. R. (2000). Effect of steroidal saponin from Yucca schidigera extract on ruminal microbes. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 88, 887–896.
Tanaka, O., Tamura, Y., Masuda, H., & Mizutani, K. (1996). Application of saponins in foods and cosmetics: Saponins of Mohave yucca and Sapindus mukurossi. In G. R. Waller & K. Yamasaki (Eds.), Saponins used food and agriculture (pp. 1–11). New York: Plenum Press.
Cheeke, P. R., & Otero, R. (2005). Yucca, quillaja may have role in animal nutrition. Feedstuffs, 3(Suppl.), 11–14.
Kuete, V., Tangmouo, J. G., Penlap Beng, V., Ngounou, F. N., & Lontsi, D. J. (2006). Antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract from the stem bark of Tridesmostemon omphalocarpoides (Sapotaceae). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 8, 5–11.
Rakhimov, R. R., Benetis, N. P., Lund, A., Hwang, J. S., Prokofev, A. I., & Lebedev, Y. S. (1996). Intramolecular and reorientation dynamics of bis (triphenylphosphine)-3, 6-di-tert-butyl-4, 5-dimethoxy-o-semiquinone complex of copper (I) in viscous media. Chemical Physics Letters, 225, 156–162.
Mandal, P., Sinha Babu, S. P., & Mandal, N. C. (2005). Antimicrobial activity of saponins from Acacia auriculiformis. Fitoterapia, 76, 462–465.
Higuchi, R., Tokimitsu, Y., Fujioka, T., Komori, T., Kawasaki, T., & Oakenful, D. G. (1987). Structure of desacylsaponins obtained from the bark of Quillaja saponiaria. Phytochemistry, 26, 229–235.
Wei, Z., & David, G. P. (2009). Chemical and biological characterization of oleanane triterpenoids from soy. Molecules, 14(8), 2959–2975.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hassan, S.M., Byrd, J.A., Cartwright, A.L. et al. Hemolytic and Antimicrobial Activities Differ Among Saponin-rich Extracts From Guar, Quillaja, Yucca, and Soybean. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 162, 1008–1017 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-009-8838-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-009-8838-y