Abstract
Sea cucumbers are an important ingredient of traditional folk medicine in many Asian countries, which are well-known for their medicinal, nutraceutical, and food values due to producing an impressive range of distinctive natural bioactive compounds. Triterpene glycosides are the most abundant and prime secondary metabolites reported in this species. They possess numerous biological activities ranging from anti-tumour, wound healing, hypolipidemia, pain relieving, the improvement of nonalcoholic fatty livers, anti-hyperuricemia, the induction of bone marrow hematopoiesis, anti-hypertension, and cosmetics and anti-ageing properties. This study was designed to purify and elucidate the structure of saponin contents of the body wall of sea cucumber Holothuria lessoni and to compare the distribution of saponins of the body wall with that of the viscera. The body wall was extracted with 70% ethanol, and purified by a liquid-liquid partition chromatography, followed by isobutanol extraction. A high-performance centrifugal partition chromatography (HPCPC) was conducted on the saponin-enriched mixture to obtain saponins with a high purity. The resultant purified saponins were analyzed using MALDI-MS/MS and ESI-MS/MS. The integrated and hyphenated MS and HPCPC analyses revealed the presence of 89 saponin congeners, including 35 new and 54 known saponins, in the body wall in which the majority of glycosides are of the holostane type. As a result, and in conjunction with existing literature, the structure of four novel acetylated saponins, namely lessoniosides H, I, J, and K were characterized. The identified triterpene glycosides showed potent antifungal activities against tested fungi, but had no antibacterial effects on the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. The presence of a wide range of saponins with potential applications is promising for cosmeceutical, medicinal, and pharmaceutical products to improve human health.
Highlights
Sea cucumbers are known as slow-moving invertebrates, in which most species are nocturnal and benthic
Saponins are the most important and prime secondary metabolites reported in sea cucumbers
The viscera, a highly diverse range of saponin congeners was identified in the body wall
Summary
Sea cucumbers are known as slow-moving invertebrates, in which most species are nocturnal and benthic They vary in size, shape, colour, and flavours. They have different pharmacological, nutraceutical, and medicinal activities due to the remarkable differences in the type and quantity of saponins, as well as the biodiversity of their species. Holothuria lessoni, commonly known as golden sandfish, belongs to the family Holothuriidae, class Holothuroidea, order Aspidochirotida, phylum Echinodermata The colouration of this relatively new-identified holothurian is highly variable from dark greyish black to beige with black blotches and spots or beige without black spots [1,2]. Sea cucumbers are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine This species is among the species with the highest demand for luxury seafood in Asia [3], which contains a high diversity of saponins in the viscera with a potential medicinal value. Purcell [3] stated that
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