Steroidal Saponins with Plant Growth Stimulation Effects; Yucca schidigera as a Commercial Source

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 23; p. 3378
• Main Authors: Durán, Alexandra G, Calle, Juan M, Butrón, Davinia, Pérez, Andy J, Macías, Francisco A, Simonet, Ana M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 05-12-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Agave; Aqueous solutions; Bioassays; Biological activity; Butyric acid; Carbonyl compounds; Carbonyl groups; Carbonyls; Cell growth; Chromatography; Cluster analysis; Coleoptile; Crop production; Fractionation; Hormesis; Indole-3-butyric acid; Laboratories; Metabolites; Phytotoxicity; Plant growth; plant growth stimulation; Saponins; Seeds; steroidal saponin; Stimulation; Sugar; wheat coleoptile bioassay; Yucca schidigera; Yucca schidigera; agameroside I; steroidal saponin; hormesis; Agave; plant growth stimulation; wheat coleoptile bioassay
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants11233378

Plant growth-stimulation bioactivity of triterpenoid saponins is well known, especially for oleanane-type compounds. Nevertheless, a few phytotoxicity bioassays performed on some steroidal saponins have shown hormesis profiles and growth stimulation on
roots. The focus of the work described here was on the use of the wheat coleoptile bioassay to evaluate plant growth stimulation, and on the search for a commercially available source of active saponins by bio-guided fractionation strategy. Selected saponins were tested and a cluster analysis showed that those saponins with a sugar chain of more than five units had a hormesis profile, while saponins with growth enhancement had fewer sugar residues. Two saponins showed similar activity to the positive control, namely the phytohormone indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). As a potential source of these metabolites, a commercial extract of
used as a fertilizer was selected. Bio-guided fractionation led to the identification of two fractions of defined composition and these showed stimulation values similar to the positive control. It was observed that the presence of a carbonyl group at C-12 on the aglycone skeleton led to improved activity. A saponin-rich fraction from
could be proposed to enhance crop quality and production.