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Recent Advances in Biotransformation of Saponins
Open accessAbstract
Saponins are a class of glycosides whose aglycones can be either triterpenes or helical spirostanes. It is commonly recognized that these active ingredients are widely found in various kinds of advanced plants. Rare saponins, a special type of the saponins class, are able to enhance bidirectional immune regulation and memory, and have anti-lipid oxidation, anticancer, and antifatigue capabilities, but they are infrequent in nature. Moreover, the in vivo absorption rate of saponins is exceedingly low, which restricts their functions. Under such circumstances, the biotransformation of these ingredients from normal saponins—which are not be easily adsorbed by human bodies—is preferred nowadays. This process has multiple advantages, including strong specificity, mild conditions, and fewer byproducts. In this paper, the biotransformation of natural saponins—such as ginsenoside, gypenoside, glycyrrhizin, saikosaponin, dioscin, timosaponin, astragaloside and ardipusilloside—through microorganisms (Aspergillus sp., lactic acid bacteria, bacilli, and intestinal microbes) will be reviewed and prospected.
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“In addition, preclinical and pharmacokinetic studies indicate that triterpenoid-rich extracts exhibit dose-dependent biological activity despite inherently low bioavailability, supporting the rationale for a moderate dosing strategy [25,53,54,55,56,57].”
From A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Assessing the Effects of Oral Centella asiatica Extract on Skin Aging-Related Parameters in Middle-Aged Korean Women. (2026) · cites this paper as [55]
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Ma, Y., Zhao, Y., Luo, M., Jiang, Q., Liu, S., Jia, Q., Bai, Z., Wu, F., & Xie, J. (2024) · Frontiers in Pharmacology · doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1393409 · Cited by 44
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Metadata
- Authors
- He, Y., Hu, Z., Li, A., Zhu, Z., Yang, N., Ying, Z., He, J., Wang, C., Yin, S., & Cheng, S.
- Affiliations
- Wuhan Polytechnic University (CN)
- Beijing Technology and Business University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- He, Jingren
- Wang, Chengtao
- Cheng, Shuiyuan
- Venue
- Molecules
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-06-26
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 2365
- ISSN
- 1420-3049 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6650892
- OpenAlex
- W2954230857
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Molecules (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31701590)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Natural product bioactivities and synthesis
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Steroid Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Ginseng Biological Effects and Applications
- Keywords
- saponins, biotransformation, microbial transformation, ginsenosides, gypenosides, glycyrrhizin, saikosaponins, dioscin, astragaloside, bioavailability, gut microbiota, lactic acid bacteria, Aspergillus, Bacillus, anticancer activity, anti-fatigue activity
- MeSH terms
- Biotransformation, Humans, Saponins, Molecular Structure, Metabolic Networks and Pathways
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