Triterpenoid Biosynthesis and Engineering in Plants

Triterpenoid Biosynthesis and Engineering in Plants

Triterpenoid saponins are a diverse group of natural products in plants and are considered defensive compounds against pathogenic microbes and herbivores. Because of their various beneficial properties for humans, saponins are used in wide-ranging applications in addition to medicinally. Saponin biosynthesis involves three key enzymes: oxidosqualene cyclases, which construct the basic triterpen...

Molecular Biology of Triterpenoid Biosynthesis in Glycyrrhiza Plants

Licorice (roots and stolons of Glycyrrhiza plants, Leguminosae) is a well-known natural sweetener, and its sweet constituent is an oleanane-type triterpene saponin, glycyrrhizin. Cultured cells of G. glabra do not produce glycyrrhizin, but produce two structurally different triterpenoid constituents, betulinic acid and soyasaponins. Both glycyrrhizin and soyasaponins are oleanane-type triterpen...

Alkaloid Biosynthesis -The Basis for Metabolic Engineering of Medicinal Plants

Solanesol Biosynthesis in Plants.

Solanesol is a non-cyclic terpene alcohol composed of nine isoprene units that mainly accumulates in solanaceous plants. Solanesol plays an important role in the interactions between plants and environmental factors such as pathogen infections and moderate-to-high temperatures. Additionally, it is a key intermediate for the pharmaceutical synthesis of ubiquinone-based drugs such as coenzyme Q10...

Direct detection of triterpenoid saponins in medicinal plants.

Direct detection of saponins in medicinal plants using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is reported in this paper. Crude dry plant powders were mixed with potassium bromide (KBr) powder and compressed to a thin pellet for infrared examination. FTIR spectra of the test samples showed -OH, -C=O, C-H, and C=C absorptions characteristic of oleanane triterpenoid saponins. The C-O-C abs...