| Abstract Title: | Characterisation and biological evaluation of Chilean quinoa saponin |
| Abstract Type: | Poster |
| Session Choice: | Quantitation, Pharma & Forensics |
| Presenter Name: | Mr Emmanuel Colson |
| Company/Organisation: | UMONS |
| Country: | Belgium |
Abstract Information :
Nowadays, research activities in pharmaceutical sciences are facing numerous huge challenges with, in particular, the fact that microorganisms are developing mutations to protect themselves against common drugs. To find new solutions to these issues, secondary metabolites are currently investigated and appear as a promising eco-friendly solution. For years, traditional medicines all over the world have taken benefit of the presence of active molecules within plants and animals to face some diseases. Nowadays, however, the prerequisite for a pharmaceutical application is the perfect characterization of the chemical structures of the drugs, but also of the chemical compositions of the extracts. In this regard, analytical chemistry resources are abundantly exploited with a special attention to the development of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods. Amongst all the investigated secondary metabolites, saponins are more and more envisaged for their intrinsic membranolytic properties. These glycosides are composed of two parts, a steroid-like structure (aglycone) associated to oligosaccharidic chain(s) (glycone), generating amphiphilic structures responsible for their hemolytic, cytotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-tumor properties. The present study is dedicated to the saponins of the Chilean Quinoa in collaboration with Dr.Gustavo Cabrera at the University of Centro de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion (CIDI).
The study started with the thorough characterization of saponins by mass spectrometry. We developed an analytical protocol that begins by a MALDI-(+)-ToF analysis to obtain a screening of our samples in terms of saponin composition diversity. Afterwards, LC-MS(MS) works bring information about the presence of isomeric saponins and allow for the structural characterization of saponin ions (MSMS).
The second part of the work is dedicated to the evaluation of the biological activities of our biomolecules. The purified and characterized extracts are tested against bacteria (Escherichia coli) and fungi (Candida albicans) which are used as model systems.
