Estimation of a steroid released from the crude saponins of the starfish, Asterias vulgaris, by solvolysis: Seasonal and geographic abundance
✍ Scribed by B.G. Burns; M.W. Gilgan; V.H. Logan; J. Burnell; J.W. ApSimon
- Book ID
- 102984050
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1977
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 723 KB
- Volume
- 81
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0003-2697
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Conditions were optimized for the quantitative extraction and isolation, by reversed-phase adsorption, of a saponin, from the common or purple starfish, Asterias vulgaris. and for the subsequent solvolytic release and quantitation of a steroid aglycone, Sa-pregn-9tl l)-ene-3P,6a-diol-20-one.
With the method developed, the abundance of the aglycone was found to vary seasonally and was greatest from April to June at two locations on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. When several locations were examined during October, the abundance of the aglycone was also found to vary geographically.
The toxic component of many starfish was found to be saponin (1). From the saponins of starfish, several workers have isolated a number of steroid aglycones [cf. Ref. ( 2)]. Of these, 5a-pregn-9(1 l)-ene-3P,6adiol-20-one (here referred to as asterone) was of particular interest, as it could be the starting material for the synthesis of steroid pharmaceuticals (4). This compound has now been isolated from acid hydrolysates of the saponins of several starfish (5-9). Shimizu (13) suggested that asterone was generated from a hypothetical parent steroid by acid hydrolysis. The recent work of Kitagawa et nl. ( 14) with saponins of Acanthasterplanci supported Shimizu's hypothesis, since they were able to isolate a sapogenol which would yield asterone in the presence of acid. The validity of the hypothesis for Asterias saponins remains to be determined.
A knowledge of the nature and abundance of the starfish saponins would be of potential value in two ways. First, the aglycones mentioned above might make useful chemicals. Second, if the residual body mass of the starfish could be sufficiently detoxified by removal of the saponin, it might be valuable as a protein supplement for animal feed. To obtain information on both of these factors, we wished to determine 196 CopyrIght eZz I977 by Academic Prer,. Inc.