Notes on the saponins in the plants of the family Hydrocharitaceae

Abstract

According to the available literature data, the absence of saponins and sapogenins in the composition could be typical for the representatives of the Hydrocharitaceae family. However, in the study of the component composition, the screening test for saponins gave a positive result. In this regard, studies have been carried out to determine the content of saponins (in terms of glycyrrhizic acid) in the phytomass of some species of the Hydrocharitaceae family (Egeria densa, Elodea canadensis, Hydrilla verticillata, Нydrocharis morsus-ranae, H. dubia, Najas marina, Stratiotes aloides, Vallisneria americana) from different regions of Eurasia. The highest amount of saponins is contained in the phytomass Hydrocharis dubia (5.1 ± 0.3 %), H. morsusranae (3.6 ± 0.5 %) and Stratiotes aloides (3.4±0.3 %), the smallest in Elodea canadensis (1.2 ± 0.2 %). According to the content of saponins (in terms of glycyrrhizic acid), the studied plants of the family Hydrocharitaceae could be divided into two groups: with the largest (more than 3 %), interesting as the raw material base, and the smallest (less than 3 %). On model species, seasonal changes in the content of saponins are confirmed, the content is statistically significantly different by 1.3 times.