Recent Developments in our Knowledge of Steroids¹

Abstract

Annually, the American Chemical Abstracts has some 3000 references to plant steroids or related compounds. This is a review of 34 selected papers mainly from the literature of [1984][1985]. Plant steroids as raw material for the pharmaceutical industry; tissue culture for steroids; horticultural trials of species for sapogenins; the in Vitro use of enzymes to increase the yield of sapogenins from plant material. New furostanol precursors of diosgenin; the cytotoxic activity of these and related compounds; their possible role in plant mineral metabolism. Microorganisms in the biotransformation of steroids; the exploitation of waste material as a source of sterols; the use of fungal spores on diatomaceous particles; the use of fungal protoplasts; hydrophobic resin as a product reservoir in such transformations. Brassinosteroids, their distribution as plant growth hormones; their microquantitative bioassay; physiological studies towards their use for enhancement of crop production; patented analogues obtained by partial synthesis. Ecdysones, their wide distribution in plants; their possible functions: effect on photosynthetic and respiratory rates; root protection against soil nematodes; dietary value in animal nutrition; their use in insect control. 29-Fluorophytosterols as pro-insecticides; fungal pregnanes as insecticides. Cardiac glycosides; ecological significance in plant-insect-bird relationships; new cardenolides, naturally occurring and those obtained by partial synthesis; the use of mesophyll cells in tissue culture; crossbreeding of Digitalis species. Steroidal alkaloids: reference to their annual review and to a steroidal antibiotic; the types of alkaloids now defineable in the Buxaceae and their chemotaxonomic significance for the new ones from the single genus family, Didymelaceae.

Biological Activities of Potato Glycoalkaloids

“…Genetic Variation GA have been demonstrated in over 300 species of the botanical families Solanaceae, Apocynaceae, Buxaceae, and Liliaceae (30)(31)(32). Within the Solanaceae, the Solanum (potato) and Lycopersicon (tomato) genera are of greatest importance.…”

Not out of the box: phylogeny of the broadly sampled Buxaceae

“…There are multiple morphological characters which unite the group (Oskolski & al., 2015), for example, cyclocytic or laterocytic stomata, frequently triplinerved leaf venation, racemose inflorescences, frequently dimerous flowers, stamen-sepalum complex in many representatives, and unusual pregnan steroidal alkaloids (Hardman, 1987;von Balthazar & Endress, 2002a, b;von Balthazar et al, 2003;Köhler, 2007).…”

Variability in Kernel Oil and Kernel Crude Protein Contents in Sudanese Fruit Accessions of Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Del.

“…Steroidal sapogenins such as diosgenin, obtainable by hydrolysis of their corresponding saponin molecules, are used by the pharmaceutical industry as raw materials for the synthesis of oral contraceptives and other classes of steroid drugs (Hardman, 1987). The quest for economical plant sources of steroidal sapogenins other than Diocorea species, the only commercial source, pointed to the high potential of fruits of Balanites aegyptiaca as an alternative source (Hardman and Sofowora, 1972;1970).…”