Importance and chemical composition

Importance and chemical composition

    • Among the various plants which are being used as raw materials for the production of steroidal drugs, steroid-bearing solanum (Solanum viarum Dunal.) belonging to the family Solanaceae, holds an important place due to its shorter crop duration and low initial investment in its commercial cultivation.

    • It is also known as ‘Tropical soda applae’.It yields a glyco-alkaloid, solasodine, a nitrogen analogue of diosgenine. Solasodine through 16-dehydro-pregnenolone (16 DPA) is converted to a group of compounds like testosterone and methyl¬testosterone and corticosteroids like predinisolone and hydrocortisone.

    • These steroidal compounds have anti-inflammatory, anabolic and antifertility properties, due to which they find large-scale use in health and family planning programmes all over the world.

Last modified: Tuesday, 3 April 2012, 9:18 AM