World Bank assisted National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) - University of Port Harcourt
Abstract
A new molluscicidal triterpenoid saponin, napoleonaside [1] has been
isolated from the methanolic extract of the fruit of Napoleonaea
imperialis . The structure of napoleonaside was established as
3\u3b2-
O-[{\u3b2-D-glucopyranosyl(1\u21924)}{\u3b1-L-arabinopyranosyl(1\u21922)-
\u3b2-D-glucopyranosyl(1\u21922)}- \u3b2-Dglucuronopyranosyl]-
16\u3b1,22\u3b1,24,28-tetrahydroxyl-21-
\u3b2-O-angeloxyolean-12-ene, by spectroscopic (IR, FABMS, 1H and
13C-NMR) methods. Napoleonaside was tested for its molluscicidal
properties against Biomphalaria glabrata and was found to be one of
the most potent naturally occurring plant molluscicides with activity
of 0.4ppm (observed after 24hrs)