Chemistry and biological activity of steroid saponins from Moldovian plants

Abstract

The main point is that these glycosides which act as bioregulators differ fundamentally from products currently used in agriculture: all of them are natural products causing neither environmental pollution nor any damage to useful organisms. Their rates of application are milligrams per hectare instead of kilograms and tons of chemicals traditionally used in agriculture. Also, the glycoside bioregulators are very inexpensive products, being recovered from wastes of canning and pharmaceutical industries. Their application allows the pesticide pressure to be considerably lowered. Steroid glycoside bioregulators can be used as supplements to nutrient media for in vitro culture. The morphogenesis stimulation by glycosides is conditioned by their interaction with phytohormones and depends on the basic medium content. The regulatory effect of glycosides directs the morphogenesis to the increase of shoot formation in the latter stages of the growth or to the further activation of callus formation. The stimulation of morphogenesis in vitro under the influence of glycosides and phytohormones of interaction can be explained by using two mechanisms; one involves connection with the permeability of cell membranes, and the other one is connected with the regulation of reactions during the subsequent morphogenetic stages.