Saponin Biosynthesis in Pulses

Abstract

Pulses are a group of leguminous crops that are harvested solely for their dry seeds. As the demand for plant-based proteins grows, pulses are becoming important food crops worldwide. In addition to being a rich source of nutrients, pulses also contain saponins that are traditionally considered anti-nutrients, and impart bitterness and astringency. Saponins are plant secondary metabolites with great structural and functional diversity. Given their diverse functional properties and biological activities, both undesirable and beneficial, saponins have received growing attention. It can be expected that redirecting metabolic fluxes to control the saponin levels and produce desired saponins would be an effective approach to improve the nutritional and sensory quality of the pulses. However, little effort has been made toward understanding saponin biosynthesis in pulses, and, thus there exist sizable knowledge gaps regarding its pathway and regulatory network. In this paper, we summarize the research progress made on saponin biosynthesis in pulses. Additionally, phylogenetic relationships of putative biosynthetic enzymes among multiple pulse species provide a glimpse of the evolutionary routes and functional diversification of saponin biosynthetic enzymes. The review will help us to advance our understanding of saponin biosynthesis and aid in the development of molecular and biotechnological tools for the systematic optimization of metabolic fluxes, in order to produce the desired saponins in pulses.

Botanicals: A promising approach for controlling cecal coccidiosis in poultry

“…Multiple researchers have reported that plants containing high amounts of saponins can boost the immune system by affecting the immune organ maturation and increasing the antibody levels in the body, providing better defense against cecal coccidiosis ( 164 , 179 – 182 ). Plants containing saponins also function as astringents, i.e., they reduce surface tension inside the body and help nutrients enter the cells ( 183 , 184 ). Due to these activities, multiple saponin-containing plants have been used to control coccidiosis ( 101 , 105 , 119 , 185 – 190 ).…”

The Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) Cladodes and Callus Extracts: A Study Combined with LC-MS Metabolic Profiling, In-Silico, and In-Vitro Analyses

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Creating saponin‐free yellow pea seeds by CRISPR/Cas9‐enabled mutagenesis on β‐amyrin synthase

“…In pea, β‐amyrin C‐24 hydroxylase ( CYP93E8 ) has been the only experimentally proven enzyme for the oxygenation of saponins (Moses et al, 2014). However, in soybean, the biochemical identities of β‐amyrin C‐22 hydroxylase ( CYP72A61 ), galactose‐, rhamnose‐, and DDMP‐transferase ( UGT73P2 , UGT91H4 , and UGT73K5 , respectively) have been fully elucidated (Yu et al, 2022, and references therein). The enzyme for the transfer of glucuronic acid to the C‐3 hydroxyl position has been a mystery for decades, but a cellulose synthase superfamily‐derived glycosyl transferase ( CSyGT ) was recently identified as a catalyst for this reaction (Chung et al, 2020).…”