title: Phyto-saponins as a natural adjuvant for delivery of agromaterials through plant cuticle membranes.
abstract: With growing use of synthetic adjuvants in modern agriculture, their impacts on the environment are being questioned. In a search for an environmentally safe phyto-adjuvant, we have investigated natural glycosidic saponin for delivery of agromaterials through plant cuticle membranes. Four saponin preparations from Quillaja saponaria bark (QE), obtained from Sigma-Aldrich, and Balanites aegyptiaca fruit mesocarp (ME), kernel (KE), and root (RE), isolated and characterized in our laboratory, were used for testing the delivery of [14C]-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) across isolated intact astomatous adaxial Citrus grandis leaf cuticle membranes (CMs). The results showed that both Q. saponaria and B. aegyptiaca saponin preparations enhanced delivery of 2,4-D through CMs. Among the saponin preparations, ME exhibited a significantly higher level of delivery of 2,4-D with a concentration effect (2% being the highest). Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) characterization of these saponin preparations in aqueous solution clearly demonstrated the formation of nanoscale vesicles. Various possibilities for a natural amphiphatic phyto-saponin as a delivery adjuvant through CMs are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The Phyto-Lipid Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology Engineering, The Institutes for Applied Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Bishnu P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Chapagain
authors.forename: Zeev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wiesman
mesh_terms: D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism; D016573:Agrochemicals / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010316:Particle Size; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012503:Saponins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D016573:Agrochemicals; D012503:Saponins; D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid