Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the saponins from berries of cultivated phytolacca dodecandra by LC/UV and LC/MS

The dried berries of Endod, Phytolacca dodecandra L'Herit (Phytolaccaceae), are used in Ethiopia as a soap substitute. The molluscicidal properties of their constituents were discovered by Lemma in 1965 and this plant became rapidly of great importance for the local control of bilharzia or schistosomiasis (Lemma, 1970). This parasitic disease affects more than 200 million people in over 70 countries in Africa, South America and in the Far East. As shown in Fig. 19.1. (Marston and Hostettmann 1985), the use of molluscicides affects dramatically the life cycle of the parasitic nematode Schistosoma species.

A conference paper on the medicinal plants of Africa.