In-vitro Evaluation of the Pharmacological Potential of Saponins Derived from Sapindus mukorossi and Asparagus racemosus

Introduction: Tri-terpenoids are sources of natural vaccine adjuvant and im-munopotentiator, and plants are a crucial source for discovering new medicinal compounds for drug development. Saponins from plants are amphipathic glycosides with a variety of biological functions, including the capacity to elicit an immune response, which makes them excellent candidates for adjuvants. Methods: Phytochemical analysis of the aqueous and hydro-alcoholic preparations from root and pericarp extracts of Asparagus racemosus and Sapindus mukorossi, respectively, re-vealed the presence of saponins. Quantification of major biomarkers in both aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts was done using TLC analysis. Antimicrobial, hemolytic, and cyto-toxic effects of the purified saponin were evaluated for their safety and efficacy. Results: Pharmacological evaluation of the above extracts were evaluated against Staphylo-coccus aureus and Escherichia coli, by disk diffusion and broth microdilution method, which showed prominent antibacterial properties and Minimum Inhibitory concentration at 3 and 5 mg/mL, respectively. Finally, the percentage yield of saponins was better in hydro-alco-holic extracts. Discussion: Hydro-alcoholic extracts of Asparagus racemosus and Sapindus mukorossi ex-hibited moderate antibacterial activity, with Sapindus mukorossi showing slightly higher ef-ficacy, and demonstrated negligible cytotoxicity on human red blood cells and rat spleno-cytes. These findings highlight their potential as safe immunomodulatory agents and com-plementary therapeutics to conventional antibiotics. Conclusion: Using the MTT assay, both the extracts exhibited the least cell cytotoxicity against rat spleen cells, concluding their high safety index. Based on the preliminary finding, plant derived saponins can be an important immuno-modulatory agent.