Efficiency of Extraction Methods and Antibacterial Activity of Saponins in Silene bupleuroides L. (Caryophyllaceae)

The genus Silene L. with more than 2200 species is the largest genera of the family Caryophyllaceae in the world mostly distributed in north hemisphere، Europe، Asia and North Africa. About 110 species of this genus grow in Iran، of which 35 are endemic with narrow geographical distribution. Saponins are one of the important secondary metabolites that are found among members of the genus Silene. In this research، saponins from aerial parts of Silene bupleuroides L. were extracted by three different methods. Quantitative and qualitative measurements of saponins were done by spectrophotometery and Thin Layer Chromatography methods، respectively. Results showed that solubility and stability of saponins were affected by features of solvents and special solvents can remove undesirable compounds and increasing extraction efficiency. Five dotswere obtained from S. bupleuroides، of which a dot with Rf = 0. 33 is the major components. In addition، antibacterial activity of the saponins was investigated against 4 different Gram negative and positive bacteria including Proteus vulgaris، Citrobacter amalonaticus، Bscillus cereus and Enterobacter aerogenes by disc diffusion method. Proteus vulgaris and Citrobacter amalonaticus are the most sensitive bacteria treated bysaponins of different parts.