An enzymatic process for the production of the pharmacologically active glycoside desglucodesrhamnoruscin from Ruscus aculeatus L.

The pharmacological properties of the extract of Ruscus aculeatus L. have b een well established for many years now. The compounds which possess these properties are the steroid glycosides ruscin and ruscoside and their hydrol ysis products desglucoruscin, desglucodesrhamnoruscin and desglucoruscoside . As the pharmacological action increases with the decrease of the amount o f the sugar molecules, the plant extracts must be submitted to chemical or enzyme hydrolysis in order to obtain the most active compounds. In our laboratory, a bioconversion process to produce the monoglycoside des glucodesrhamnoruscin from dry extracts of the rhizome of R. aculeatus has b een developed using enzyme preparations containing a beta -glucopyranosidas e and an alpha -rhamnopyranosidase. Identifying the concentrations of subst rate, enzyme and ethanol that are most advantageous for the bioconversion h as optimized the process. The developed process gave a final product contai ning 19% of desglucodesrhamnoruscin. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.