In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of Heliconius butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body.
Saponins, also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed but found particularly in soapwort, a flowering plant, and the soapbark tree. They are used in soaps, medicinals, fire extinguishers, speciously as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages. Structurally, they are glycosides, sugars bonded to another organic molecule, usually a steroid or triterpene, a steroid building block. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin, licorice flavoring; and quillaia, a bark extract used in beverages.
Enoxolone is a pentacyclic triterpenoid derivative of the beta-amyrin type obtained from the hydrolysis of glycyrrhizic acid, which was obtained from the herb liquorice. It is used in flavoring and it masks the bitter taste of drugs like aloe and quinine. It is effective in the treatment of peptic ulcer and also has expectorant (antitussive) properties. It has some additional pharmacological properties with possible antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoal, and antibacterial activities.
Alpinia nutans, the shellflower, or dwarf cardamom, is a Southeast Asian plant of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), and is a medicinal plant used to control hypertension, as diuretic, antifungal, and antiulcer. In Japan it is used as food preservative.
Punicalagin is an ellagitannin, a type of phenolic compound. It is found in forms alpha and beta in pomegranates, in Terminalia catappa and Terminalia myriocarpa, and in Combretum molle, the velvet bushwillow, a plant species found in South Africa. These three genera are all Myrtales and the last two are both Combretaceae.
Phellodendron amurense is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae, commonly called the Amur cork tree. It is a major source of huáng bò, one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Ainu people used this plant, called shikerebe-ni, as a painkiller. It is known as hwangbyeok in Korean and (キハダ) kihada in Japanese.
Barringtonia acutangula is a species of Barringtonia native to coastal wetlands in southern Asia and northern Australasia, from Afghanistan east to the Philippines, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Common names include freshwater mangrove, itchytree and mango-pine.
Polygodial is chemical compound found in dorrigo pepper, mountain pepper, horopito, canelo, paracress, water-pepper, and Dendrodoris limbata.
Anogeissus leiocarpa is a tall deciduous tree native to the savannas of tropical Africa.
Warburgia ugandensis, also known as Ugandan greenheart, is a species of evergreen tree native to Africa. Countries in which the plant species is found include Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The wood is resistant to insect attack and very strong. It was commonly used for the yoke pole of ox-wagons, the Disselboom. Early Indian immigrants to Kenya, working on the construction of the railway, used the leaves to flavor their curries before the chilli plant was commonly introduced. The flavor is fiercely hot and subtly different from chillies.
Taxifolin (5,7,3',4'-flavan-on-ol), also known as dihydroquercetin, belongs to the subclass flavanonols in the flavonoids, which in turn is a class of polyphenols.
Daphnin is a plant toxin with the chemical formula C15H16O9 and is one of the active compounds present in the Eurasian and North African genus Daphne of the Thymelaeaceae, a plant family with a predominantly Southern Hemisphere distribution with concentrations in Australia and tropical Africa.
Bobgunnia madagascariensis, also called the snake bean plant, is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.
Quercus infectoria or the Aleppo oak is a species of oak well known for producing galls that have been traditionally used for centuries in Asia medicinally while also used in softening leather and in making black dye and ink.
Rhus chinensis, the Chinese sumac, or nutgall tree, is a deciduous shrub or small tree in the genus Rhus. Growing to 6 m (20 ft) tall, it has downy shoots and leaves comprising several leaflets. These turn red in autumn before falling.
The pomegranate ellagitannins, which include punicalagin isomers, are ellagitannins found in the sarcotestas, rind (peel), bark or heartwood of pomegranates.
Helicteres isora, sometimes called the Indian screw tree, is a small tree or large shrub found in southern Asia and northern Oceania. It is usually assigned to the family Malvaceae, but it is sometimes assigned to the family Sterculiaceae. The red flowers are pollinated mainly by sunbirds, butterflies, and Hymenoptera. In the 19th century fibers from the bark were used to make rope and sacks, although nowadays the tree is harvested for the fruits and roots which are used in folk medicine.
Breonadia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by Colin Ernest Ridsdale in 1975. The genus contains only one species, viz. Breonadia salicina, which is found in tropical and southern Africa from Mali and Benin east to Ethiopia, south to South Africa, as well as Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Madagascar.
Sarcococca saligna, the sweet box or Christmas box, is a species of flowering plant in the family Buxaceae. This shrub is native to northern Pakistan. Its common name in Pakistan is sheha.
Pteleopsis myrtifolia is one of some 10 African species in this genus in the family of Combretaceae. It is the only Pteleopsis species to occur in Southern Africa. Its flowers are strongly scented and perceived by humans to be either 'honey-like' or 'cloying' or even 'stinky'. The timber is red, hard and durable, and used for furniture and construction.
