Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113

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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

The hydrolysis of saponin-rich extracts from fenugreek and quinoa improves T

their pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity and hypocholesterolemic effect
Joaquín Navarro Del Hierroa,b, Gema Casado-Hidalgoa,b, Guillermo Regleroa,b,c, Diana Martina,b,
⁎

a
Departamento de Producción y Caracterización de Nuevos Alimentos, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CIAL) (CSIC–UAM), 28049 Madrid,
Spain
b
Sección Departamental de Ciencias de la Alimentación. Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
c
Imdea-Food Institute, CEI UAM+CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Saponins are promising compounds for ameliorating hyperlipidemia but scarce information exists about sapo­
Quinoa genins, the hydrolyzed forms of saponins. Saponin-rich extracts and their hydrolysates from fenugreek (FE, HFE)
Fenugreek and quinoa (QE, HQE), and saponin and sapogenin standards, were assessed on the inhibition of pancreatic
Saponins lipase and interference on the bioaccessibility of cholesterol by in vitro digestion models.
Sapogenins
All extracts inhibited pancreatic lipase (IC50 between 1.15 and 0.59 mg/mL), although the hydrolysis en­
Hydrolysis
Pancreatic lipase
hanced the bioactivity of HQE (p = 0.014). The IC50 value significantly correlated to the saponin content
Cholesterol (r = −0.82; p = 0.001). Only the hydrolyzed extracts showed a reduction of bioaccessible cholesterol
In vitro digestion (p < 0.001) higher than that of phytosterols (35% reduction). Sapogenin standards exhibited no bioactivities,
protodioscin and hederacoside C slightly inhibited the lipase (around 10%) and protodioscin reduced the
Chemical compounds studied in this article: bioaccessible cholesterol (23% reduction, p = 0.035).
Oleanolic acid (PubChem CID: 10494) The hydrolysis process of saponin-rich extracts enhances the bioactivity and allows developing multibioactive
Diosgenin (PubChem CID: 99474) products against pancreatic lipase and cholesterol absorption simultaneously.
Protodioscin (PubChem CID: 441891)
Hederacoside C (PubChem CID: 11491905)
Cholesterol (PubChem CID: 5997)
β-Sitosterol (PubChem CID: 222284)

1. Introduction
Hyperlipidemia is one of the most important modifiable risk factors
for cardiovascular diseases (Jain, Kathiravan, Somani, & Shishoo,
2007). Its treatment requires the use of drugs that limit the intestinal
absorption of fats and cholesterol, such as orlistat; inhibit the bio­
synthesis of cholesterol, such as statins; and increase the excretion of
bile acids in stools, such as bile acid sequestrants (Dias, Paredes, &
Ribeiro, 2018). However, these drugs have multiple side effects in­
cluding constipation, osteoporosis, myopathy, oily stools and dyspepsia
(Jain et al., 2007). For this reason, big efforts are being done in the
research field of Food Science for the seeking of novel bioactive com­
pounds obtained from natural sources.
Among the large variety of natural bioactive compounds, saponins
have gained increasing interest over the last few years. This compounds
consist of a triterpenoid or steroid non-polar sapogenin attached to
sugar moieties and have demonstrated positive effects on lipid meta­
bolism (Marrelli, Conforti, Araniti, & Statti, 2016). Thus, the inhibition
of the intestinal lipid absorption, an antihyperlipidemic activity, their
hypocholesterolemic effect and the inhibition of the adipogenesis are
some examples of their widely reported effects (Marrelli et al., 2016).
Within these activities, the inhibition of the absorption of dietary lipids
by inhibition of the digestive enzyme pancreatic lipase has been ex­
tensively described (Navarro del Hierro, Herrera, Fornari, Reglero, &
Martin, 2018). As an example, we recently demonstrated the lipase
inhibitory activity of saponin-rich extracts obtained from the edible
seeds of fenugreek and quinoa (Herrera, Navarro del Hierro, Fornari,
Reglero, & Martin, 2019b). Nevertheless, the inhibition of the pan­
creatic lipase by saponins has not always been evidenced, since a lack of
effect and even an activation of the enzyme have been described
(Vinarova, Vinarov, Atanasov, et al., 2015; Vinarova, Vinarov,
Damyanova, et al., 2015; Jiang et al., 2006).

⁎
Corresponding author at: Departamento de Producción y Caracterización de Nuevos Alimentos, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CIAL)
(CSIC–UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain.
E-mail address: diana.martin@uam.es (D. Martin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128113
Received 24 May 2020; Received in revised form 12 September 2020; Accepted 13 September 2020
Available online 22 September 2020
0308-8146/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
Abbreviations
4-MUO 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate
βSIT β-sitosterol
GC–MS-FID Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-flame ioniza­
tion detector
DG Diosgenin
It is important to consider that the sapogenin fraction of saponins
has demonstrated to exhibit a superior bioactivity than the former sa­
ponin in certain biological activities (Navarro del Hierro, Herrera,
Fornari, et al., 2018; Yang, Yang, Ouyang, & Yang, 2015). However, the
available literature focused on the pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity
of sapogenins is very limited and the studies have been mainly per­
formed with isolated compounds rather than sapogenins contained in
complex extracts (Kim, Jang, Kim, & Kim, 2009; Kwon et al., 2003).
This might be mainly due to free sapogenins not being frequently found
in natural sources, but only under the conjugated form as saponins.
Nevertheless, the subsequent transformation of saponin-rich extracts by
hydrolysis reactions allows obtaining sapogenin-rich extracts (Herrera,
Navarro del Hierro, Fornari, Reglero, & Martin, 2019a; Hostettmann &
Marston, 1995). Additionally, the hydrolysis process also leads to the
transformation and enrichment of other compounds together with sa­
pogenins. This results in more appealing extracts from the point of view
of a potential bioactivity, as we recently demonstrated for fenugreek,
quinoa, lentil or soybean extracts (Herrera et al., 2019a). Therefore, the
exploration of the inhibitory lipase activity of hydrolyzed saponin-rich
extracts may be an interesting alternative to the search of novel natural
products with this potential.
The hypocholesterolemic effect of saponins and sapogenins has been
also widely described in the literature for the partial treatment of hy­
perlipidemia, and several mechanisms have been proposed for the hy­
pocholesterolemic effect of saponins, such as the interference with the
bioaccessibility of cholesterol (Vinarova, Vinarov, Atanasov, et al.,
2015; Afrose, Hossain, Maki, & Tsujii, 2009). However, similar to what
occurs in the inhibition of the pancreatic lipase, the interference with
cholesterol has not always been clearly demonstrated for these com­
pounds (Vinarova, Vinarov, Damyanova, et al., 2015). In addition, the
superior hypocholesterolemic effect of sapogenins when compared to
saponins has been also proposed, although scarcely (Malinow et al.,
1977). The suggested mechanism for the hypocholesterolemic effect of
sapogenins seems to be related to the expression of certain genes, but
similar to the lipase inhibitory effect, most of the studies have been
performed with pure commercial standards or isolated sapogenins (Kim
et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2007). For these reasons, we consider that there
is current interest for the assessment of more detailed studies com­
paring the hypocholesterolemic role of saponins and their derived sa­
pogenins in complex natural extracts, even considering that the coex­
istence of other compounds might cause a positive or negative
interference with such activity. In this sense, we recently demonstrated
that the acid-hydrolysis of saponin-rich extracts led to an enrichment in
sapogenins as well as in phytosterols, a well-known hypocholester­
olemic phytochemical (Herrera et al., 2019a). Therefore, the explora­
tion of the potential hypocholesterolemic effect of hydrolyzed saponin-
rich extracts might be of interest for the search of novel natural pro­
ducts aimed at lowering the intestinal absorption of cholesterol.
The aim of this study was to assess how the acid transformation
affected the bioactivities of saponin-rich extracts from seeds by com­
paring 1) the inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase of these ex­
tracts and their hydrolysates; and 2) the interference of these extracts
on the bioaccessibility of cholesterol by in vitro gastrointestinal diges­
tion. Fenugreek extract (FE) or hydrolyzed fenugreek extract (HFE)
were used as examples of steroid-type saponins or sapogenins, respec­
tively; whereas quinoa extract (QE) or hydrolyzed quinoa extract (HQE)
2
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
FE Fenugreek extract
HC Hederacoside C
HFE Hydrolyzed fenugreek extract
HQE Hydrolyzed quinoa extract
OA Oleanolic acid
PD Protodioscin
QE Quinoa extract
were used as examples of triterpenoid-type saponins or sapogenins,
respectively. Furthermore, the effects of four commercial standards of
typical saponins and sapogenins from fenugreek or quinoa, namely
protodioscin, hederacoside C, diosgenin and oleanolic acid, were eval­
uated for comparative purposes.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Reagents and materials
Seeds of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) were from
Murciana de Herboristeria (Murcia, Spain) and seeds of red quinoa
(Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) were purchased from Hijo de Macario
Marcos (Salamanca, Spain).
Lipase from porcine pancreas, 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate (4-
MUO), Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS), Trizma base,
maleic acid, sodium chloride, calcium chloride, HCl, Amano lipase A
from Aspergillus niger, pepsin, pancreatin from porcine pancreas, bile
salts, phosphatidyl choline from egg yolk, cholesterol, β-sitosterol
(≥70%), diosgenin and N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide
(BSTFA) were from Sigma-Aldrich Chemie GmbH (Steinheim,
Germany). Protodioscin, hederacoside C and oleanolic acid were from
Cymit Quimica S.L (Barcelona, Spain). Methanol, hexane, 1-butanol,
choloroform, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were from Macron
(Gliwice, Poland).
2.2. Preparation of the saponin-rich extracts by ultrasound-assisted
extraction
Seeds were ground in a knife mill (Grindomix GM200, Retsch, Haan,
Germany) at 10000 rpm for 1 min and the resulting powder was sieved
in a vertical sieve (CISA Cedacería Industrial, Barcelona, Spain) until
obtaining fractions with a particle size between > 100 µm and ≤ 250.
The subsequent extraction was based on Navarro del Hierro, Piazzini,
Reglero, Martin, and Bergonzi (2020). Samples were extracted with
methanol at a ratio of sample to solvent of 1:10 (w/v) for 15 min by
direct sonication (Branson SFX250 Digital Sonifier, Branson Ultra­
sonics, Danbury, CT, USA) with an ultrasonic probe (1/2″ diameter,
output sonication amplitude of 60%) at 20 kHz. Then, the mixture was
centrifuged (Multifuge 1SR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA,
USA) at 3400×g for 15 min. The supernatant was defatted with hexane
at a ratio of 1:1 (v/v) by vortex agitation for 1 min and centrifuged at
2688×g for 10 min. The methanolic phase was collected and evapo­
rated under vacuum. In order to achieve a further enrichment in the
compounds of interest, the dried residue was extracted with water and
1-butanol. Briefly, miliQ water was added to the dried residue at a ratio
of sample to solvent of 1:20 (w/v). Once solubilized, 1-butanol was
added to the mixture at a ratio of water to 1-butanol of 1:2 (v/v),
vortexed for 1 min and centrifuged at 2688×g for 10 min. The top
phase was collected and the bottom phase was extracted again under
the same proportions and conditions. Both collected phases were dried
under vacuum (Valor Hei-VAP, Heidolph Instruments, Schwabach,
Germany) and the resulting extract was stored at −20 °C until further
use. This process was performed at least in quintuplicated.
The detailed chemical characterization of these methanolic extracts,
including the saponin content, was described in Navarro del Hierro,
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
Reglero, and Martin (2020). For comparative purposes in terms of the
saponin enrichment and the subsequent bioactivity of these methanolic
extracts, ethanolic saponin-rich extracts were also obtained according
to Herrera et al. (2019b), as it was demonstrated their lipase inhibitory
activity.
2.3. Preparation of the sapogenin-rich extracts by acid hydrolysis of
saponin-rich extracts
The previously obtained saponin-rich extracts with methanol were
mixed to obtain a single extract to be acid-hydrolyzed as described by
Navarro del Hierro et al. (2020). Briefly, the saponin-rich extracts were
heated at 100 °C with HCl solution (2 mol L−1) at a ratio of sample to
acid solution of 1:50 (w/v) for 1 h. After, the mixture was ice-cooled for
5 min and liquid–liquid extracted with ethyl acetate at a ratio of 1:1 (v/
v) by vortex agitation for 1 min and centrifuged at 3400×g for 5 min.
The top phase was collected and the bottom phase was extracted again
with the same volume of ethyl acetate under the described conditions.
Both collected phases were dried under N2 stream and the resulting
extract was stored at −20 °C until further use. This procedure was
performed at least in triplicate and the final extracts were mixed to­
gether to obtain a final single extract for the subsequent studies. The
detailed chemical characterization of these extracts, including the sa­
pogenin content, was described in Navarro del Hierro et al. (2020).
2.4. Pancreatic lipase enzyme inhibition assay by extracts and standards of
saponins and sapogenins
The inhibitory activity of each extract against pancreatic lipase was
measured by using 4-MUO as substrate, according to Herrera et al.
(2019b). The assay was performed by simulating the intestinal condi­
tions using a digestion buffer (Trizma-Maleic 100 mM pH 7.5, 0.15 M
NaCl, and 5.1 mM CaCl2) that contained bile salts (7.8 mg/mL) and
lecithin (3.12 mg/mL) according to the model of in vitro intestinal di­
gestion of Martin et al. (2016). Reaction mixture consisted of 0.5 mL of
extract solution in buffer at different concentrations, 0.5 mL of freshly-
prepared pancreatic lipase at 1 mg/mL (0.01 g of lipase in 10 mL of
buffer, stirred for 10 min and centrifuged at 2688×g for 10 min), and
lastly, 1 mL of 4-MUO solution at 0.1 mM in buffer. At least, four dif­
ferent extract concentrations were tested. Reactions at each con­
centration were prepared in triplicate. Control samples in absence of
extracts were prepared following the same procedure and controls of
extracts at each concentration of each extract, in absence of lipase and
substrate, were prepared in triplicate. The reaction mixture was placed
in an orbital incubator (Titramax 1000 package, Heidolph Instruments,
Schwabach, Germany) at 37 °C with shaking (250 rpm) and protected
from light. After 20 min, three aliquots of 150 µL were taken and the
amount of 4-MUO hydrolyzed by lipase was measured in a 96-well
microplate using a fluorescence microplate reader (Infinite M200,
Tecan, Salzburg, Austria) at an excitation wavelength of 350 ± 10 nm
and an emission wavelength of 450 nm.
The inhibition of pancreatic lipase activity was calculated as fol­
lows:
Inhibition(%) = 100 [(Fextract sample Fextract control )/ Fcontrol sample ]
where Fextract sample is the fluorescence of the reactions with added ex­
tract, Fextract control is the fluorescence of the controls of extracts, and
Fcontrol sample is the fluorescence of the reactions without extract.
Finally, a logarithmic regression curve was established to calculate IC50
values (mg/mL), defined as the concentration of the extract that in­
hibited 50% the activity of the pancreatic lipase. Preparations using
commercial standards of saponins and sapogenins, namely hederaco­
side C (HC), oleanolic acid (OA), protodioscin (PD), and diosgenin (DG)
were performed following the same procedure. The inhibitory effect of
all the standards was assessed at their equivalent concentration in each
of the extracts, setting the highest concentration of the extracts
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
evaluated in the lipase assays as reference. Specifically, PC was assayed
at 0.47 mg/mL, DG at 0.10 mg/mL, HC at 0.20 mg/mL and OA at
0.14 mg/mL.
2.5. Effect of the extracts and standards on the intestinal bioaccessibility of
cholesterol
The evaluation of the potential hypocholesterolemic effect of each
of the extracts and commercial standards was performed according to
Moran-Valero, Martin, Torrelo, Reglero, and Torres (2012) and Navarro
del Hierro, Herrera, García-Risco, et al. (2018) by simulating the in vitro
gastrointestinal digestion of cholesterol in presence and absence of the
experimental samples.
2.5.1. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion of cholesterol
First, a lipid mixture containing 30 mg of lecithin, 80 mg of cho­
lesterol and 800 mg of refined olive oil was prepared and stirred (5 min
at 50 °C) in order to simulate a typical mixture of dietary lipids under
the form of triglycerides, phospholipids and cholesterol, at proportions
that can be found in dietary fats (Moran-Valero et al., 2012). After,
22 mL of gastric solution at pH 2.5 (150 mM NaCl, 6 mM CaCl2 and 0,1
mM HCl) was added and the mixture was homogenized for 3 min at
11000 rpm (Ultra-Turrax IKA T18, Staufen, Germany). A volume of
1.1 mL of this mixture was added to a reaction vial containing 12.5 or
25 mg of extract (reaching a final concentration in the digestion
medium of 5 and 10 mg/mL, respectively). A negative control (in ab­
sence of extracts) and a positive control (containing β-sitosterol at the
same concentrations) were also prepared. For the commercial stan­
dards, the amount employed was equal to the amount of saponins or
sapogenins contained in 10 mg/mL of extract. Then, the mixture was
gently stirred at 250 rpm in an orbital shaker at 37 °C for 1 min to allow
the dispersion of the components. The gastric digestion started after the
addition of 0.225 mL of a fresh extract of gastric enzymes containing
gastric lipase (16 mg/mL) and pepsin (5 mg/mL) in gastric solution
previously stirred for 10 min. The reaction was performed for 45 min
and 250 rpm. Then, for the intestinal digestion, 0.95 mL of a solution
simulating a biliary secretion were added (0.05 g of lecithin, 0.125 g of
bile salts, 0.25 mL of 325 mM CaCl2 solution, 0.75 mL of 3.25 M NaCl
solution, and 5 mL of Trizma-maleate buffer 100 mM pH 7.5, stirred for
10 min) and the whole medium was stirred for 1 min at 37 °C. The
intestinal digestion was initiated by the addition of 0.225 mL of a fresh
pancreatin extract at 15.6 mg/mL in trizma-maleate buffer, which had
been previously stirred for 10 min and centrifuged at 2688×g for
15 min. The reaction was performed for 60 min.
Once the digestion concluded, the whole medium was submitted to
centrifugation at 2688×g for 40 min. After centrifugation, the aqueous
micellar phase, which contained the solubilized cholesterol, was col­
lected. The digestion of each sample was performed at least in dupli­
cate.
2.5.2. Extraction and analysis of bioaccessible cholesterol
The extraction of the bioaccessible cholesterol was performed ac­
cording to Martin et al. (2016). Briefly, the micellar phase was ex­
tracted with hexane:methyl tert-butyl ether (50:50, v/v) at a ratio of 3:1
× 100
(v/v) of solvent to sample. The mixture was vortexed for 1 min and
centrifuged for 10 min at 1512×g and 20 °C. The top phase was col­
lected and the bottom phase was extracted with chloroform:methanol
(2:1, v/v) at a ratio 3:1 (v/v) of solvent to sample under the same
conditions. Once centrifuged, the bottom phase was collected and fil­
tered through anhydrous sodium sulfate. The two collected organic
phases were mixed and the solvents were evaporated under N2 stream
until dried.
For the analysis of the extracted cholesterol, the previous dried re­
sidue was derivatized at 10 mg/mL with BSTFA by heating at 75 °C for
1 h according to Herrera et al. (2019a). Then, according to the same
authors, the derivatized samples were analyzed by GC–MS-FID (Agilent
3
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
7890A, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) comprising a split/
splitless injector, an electronic pressure control, a G4513A autoinjector,
and a 5975C triple-axis mass spectrometer detector. The column used
was an Agilent HP-5MS capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm i.d.,
0.25 μm phase thickness). Helium was used as carrier gas at 2 mL/min.
The injector temperature was 260 °C, and the mass spectrometer ion
source and interface temperatures were 230 and 280 °C, respectively.
The sample injections (1 μL) were performed in splitless mode. The
oven temperature was initiated at 50 °C, held for 3 min and increased at
a rate of 15 °C/min to 310 °C, then held for 25 min. The mass spectra
were obtained by electronic impact at 70 eV. The scan rate was
1.6 scans/s at a mass range of 30–700 amu. Quantitation of cholesterol
was performed with its corresponding commercial standard, which was
derivatized and analyzed under the same conditions.
In order to determine the potential hypocholesterolemic effect, the
bioaccessible cholesterol (total weight of cholesterol in micellar phase)
was compared among the different samples (control, extracts, standards
and β-sitosterol). Any significant reduction in the bioaccessible cho­
lesterol respect to the control was considered a potential hypocholes­
terolemic effect.
2.6. Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were performed by means of the general linear
model procedure of the SPSS 26.0 statistical package (SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, IL, USA) by one-way analysis of variance. Differences were
considered significant at p ≤ 0.05. Post-hoc Tukey’s tests were per­
formed in order to establish significant differences. Pearson correlation
tests were conducted for additional analyses.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase of extracts and standards
The inhibitory activity of fenugreek and quinoa extracts, which
included both saponin-rich extracts and their hydrolysates, was eval­
uated in vitro under simulation of intestinal conditions by incubating
the pancreatic lipase enzyme with a fluorogen lipid substrate, in pre­
sence of the potential inhibitors and in a digestion buffer at 37 °C for
20 min. After the enzymatic hydrolysis, the fluorescence caused by the
release of the fluorogen group from the substrate was measured and
compared with that in absence of the inhibitor, which allowed esti­
mating the inhibitory activity.
First, taking into account the lipase inhibitory activity previously
shown by saponin-rich extracts obtained with ethanol from fenugreek
and quinoa (Herrera et al., 2019b), it was considered relevant to assess
the effect of methanol as an extraction solvent on both the saponin
content and the lipase inhibitory activity of the resulting methanolic
extracts, according to the saponin content of these methanolic extracts,
as recently published (Navarro del Hierro et al., 2020). This was con­
ducted considering that methanol has been traditionally used for a
more efficient production of saponin-rich extracts (Cheok, Salman, &
Sulaiman, 2014), even though ethanol is considered to be a more en­
vironmentally friendly solvent. Therefore, this initial comparative study
would allow selecting the most suitable solvent of extraction for the
production of extracts with both the highest saponin-enrichment and
the highest bioactivity. As shown in Fig. 1, in general, the saponin-
enrichment and the inhibitory activity of the methanolic extracts
seemed to be stronger than those of the ethanolic extracts from both
seeds, even though the superior bioactivity was more evident for the
quinoa extracts and not for those from fenugreek. Nevertheless, a strong
negative correlation was found between the saponin content of the
extracts and their IC50 (r = −0.82; p = 0.001), hence in general it
seems that the enrichment in saponins is related to an increased lipase
inhibitory activity. Therefore, the use of methanol as extraction solvent
is preferred for the obtention of extracts that are characterized by
4
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
having an increased saponin content and an improved pancreatic lipase
inhibitory activity. Hence, the methanolic extracts were more suitable
for their further hydrolysis to obtain extracts richer in sapogenins.
3.1.1. Comparative effect of non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed extracts on the
lipase inhibition
Once the non-hydrolyzed methanolic extracts were chosen as the
most interesting ones, the effect of their hydrolysis on the lipase in­
hibitory activity was evaluated. As shown in Fig. 2, both non-hydro­
lyzed and hydrolyzed extracts showed the ability to inhibit the pan­
creatic lipase activity in a dose-dependent manner, which allowed
estimating their IC50 values (Fig. 2B). As shown in Fig. 2B, and con­
sidering each of the extracts individually, the QE exhibited the highest
IC50 (1.15 ± 0.15 mg/mL), which was significantly higher (p = 0.001)
than the IC50 of the rest of the extracts: HQE (0.74 ± 0.09 mg/mL), FE
(0.59 ± 0.00 mg/mL) and HFE (0.72 ± 0.13 mg/mL). In other words,
the effectiveness of these three extracts against inhibiting the pan­
creatic lipase activity was stronger than that of the QE. These differ­
ences were especially remarkable at the highest concentrations assayed
(2.5, 1.5 and 0.75 mg/mL), although the inhibition percentage of the
four extracts was nearly the same at 0.25 mg/mL (Fig. 2A).
It was not detected an overall significant effect of the hydrolysis
factor (p > 0.05) when comparing the IC50 values of the hydrolyzed
extracts (calculated as the mean value of HQE and HFE) with those
from the not hydrolyzed ones (mean value of QE and FE). However,
when each seed was statistically analyzed separately, that is, when the
IC50 values from the non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed extracts were
compared for each individual seed, differences were observed only in
quinoa. This meant that the hydrolysis of QE led to an increased
bioactivity of the HQE (p = 0.014), whereas such effect was not ob­
served for the hydrolysis of the FE (Fig. 2B). Therefore, this result
would suggest that the hydrolysis of saponin-rich extracts enhances the
pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of extracts from some sources, such
as quinoa, but would not have any effect on other sources of saponins,
such as fenugreek. Other interesting differences were found when
considering the seed factor regardless of the hydrolysis factor. In gen­
eral, fenugreek extracts exhibited a significant (p = 0.026) stronger
inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase than the quinoa extracts
(IC50 of 0.66 ± 0.11 vs 0.95 ± 0.25 mg/mL, respectively), suggesting
that any of the fenugreek extracts, either FE or HFE, would be more
effective towards potentially reducing the absorption of fats when
compared to any of the quinoa extracts.
It is worth highlighting the scarce literature that has assessed the
effect of the hydrolysis process of saponin-containing extracts and their
hydrolysates on their lipase inhibitory activity. Zhao et al. (2005)
performed the hydrolysis of bidesmoside saponins isolated from a
Fig. 1. Correlation between the saponin content (%) of the extracts and their
IC50 (mg/mL) against pancreatic lipase.
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al. Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113

Fig. 3. Inhibition of pancreatic lipase (%) by commercial standards of saponins

and sapogenins compared to their corresponding extracts. (*) Significant dif­
ferences (p < 0.001). QE = quinoa extract, HC = hederacoside C,
FE = fenugreek extract, PD = protodioscin, HQE = hydrolyzed quinoa extract,
OA = oleanolic acid, HFE = hydrolyzed fenugreek extract, DG = diosgenin.

extracts after the acid hydrolysis.

3.1.2. Effect of standards of saponins and sapogenins on the lipase

inhibition
In order to understand to what extent were saponins and sapogenins
contained in the fenugreek and quinoa extracts responsible for the in­
hibition of the pancreatic lipase, the effect of pure compounds was
evaluated under the same conditions. We selected the saponin PD and
its aglycone, DG, as steroid-like representatives of the compounds ty­
Fig. 2. A) Effect of concentration (mg/mL) of non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed pically found in fenugreek, whereas the saponin HC and the sapogenin
extracts from fenugreek and quinoa on the inhibition (%) of pancreatic lipase
OA were chosen as triterpenoid-like representatives of the compounds
under simulated intestinal conditions; and B) IC50 value (mg/mL) of non-hy­
commonly found in quinoa. The inhibitory activity of the pure com­
drolyzed (gray bars) and hydrolyzed extracts (dotted bars) from fenugreek and
quinoa against pancreatic lipase. QE = quinoa extract, HQE = hydrolyzed
pounds was assayed at the concentration that saponins and sapogenins
quinoa extract, FE = fenugreek extract, HFE = hydrolyzed fenugreek extract. are found in each of the extracts, establishing as reference the con­
centration of 1.5 mg/mL for both fenugreek extracts and 2.5 mg/mL for
both quinoa extracts.
methanolic extract of Platycodi radix to obtain prosapogenin D, a tri­
The inhibition percentage of the commercial saponins and sapo­
terpenoid glucoside containing a single sugar attached to C-3. These
genins at the above mentioned concentrations compared to the in­
authors demonstrated that the transformed compound exhibited a 30%
hibition percentage of their corresponding extracts is shown in Fig. 3. In
increase in pancreatic lipase inhibition compared to the former sapo­
general terms, it can be clearly observed that all the commercial com­
nins. The enhanced lipase inhibition caused by deglycosylation has also
pounds exhibited little or no inhibition of the pancreatic lipase. How­
been confirmed for ginsenosides Rg3 and cK, both of which are tri­
ever, interesting differences were found between the two groups of
terpenoid glucosides with a single glucose moiety attached (Li & Ji,
compounds (saponins/sapogenins). While the saponins HC and PD were
2017). Other authors have evidenced the lipase inhibition of two
able to slightly inhibit the enzyme in a very similar way (8.6 ± 5.7%
dammarane-type triterpenoids derived from the acid hydrolysate of
and 8.8 ± 4.9%, respectively), the sapogenins OA and DG seemed to
Gynostemma pentaphyllum saponins, but the bioactivity of the latter ones
show a null effect.
was not assessed (Bai et al., 2010). In this last work, the highest in­
Considering the exceedingly low inhibition exerted by the com­
hibition percentage (66%) was achieved at 0.1 mg/mL, which is a
mercial standards compared to that of the extracts at an equivalent
considerably lower value than the ones obtained in the present work.
concentration, we aimed at evaluating if the simulation of the intestinal
Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that these authors studied
conditions during the inhibitory assay was somehow affecting the in­
a different source of saponins and their assay was performed under the
hibitory activity of the pure compounds, as we had previously de­
traditional method of determination of inhibitory activity, which does
monstrated for other extracts (Herrera et al., 2019b). For this purpose,
not simulate the intestinal conditions. In this sense, we have previously
the lipase inhibitory activity of HC and PD was assessed in the tradi­
demonstrated that when the inhibitory pancreatic lipase activity is as­
tional PBS buffer instead of using the digestion buffer containing le­
sayed under intestinal conditions, as performed in the present study,
cithin and bile salts. These two saponins were chosen, and not the sa­
the inhibitory activity of the extracts is worse than under the traditional
pogenins, because of the subtle inhibition they displayed. Results
method of the assay in which the intestinal conditions are not simulated
showed that when the reaction was performed using PBS, the inhibitory
(Herrera et al., 2019b).
activity of both saponins was further worsened. Specifically, the in­
Regardless of the conditions in which the assays are performed, it
hibition percentage of HC diminished to –5.1 ± 4.1% (p = 0.028) and
seems that the hydrolysis of saponins may cause in certain cases an
that of PD to –9.9 ± 5.5% (p = 0.012), what suggested that the in­
increase in the bioactivity of the resulting compounds or extracts, as
testinal conditions simulated during the determination were indeed
demonstrated for the hydrolyzed quinoa extract and in other similar
slightly favoring the inhibition of the pancreatic lipase by the saponin
works. Further studies would be of interest in order to understand
standards and, therefore, such conditions were not responsible for the
whether this result is due to the seed source itself, the type of saponins
low inhibitory activity of the compounds.
or the coexistence of other released compounds in the hydrolyzed
In spite of these low values, the fact that HC and PD caused some

5
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
degree of lipase inhibition seems to confirm that the bioactivity exerted
by the saponin-rich extracts is, at least partially, attributed to the sa­
ponin content, although their considerably higher inhibitory activity
might be explained by different reasons. The first reason might be re­
lated to the fact that the extracts do not contain only one type of sa­
ponin, but a variety of saponins that differ in aspects such as the type
and number of sugar moieties or the chemical composition of the
aglycone. Many of these saponins have been already tentatively iden­
tified by ourselves in saponin-rich extracts from fenugreek and quinoa
(Herrera et al., 2019a). Such diverse saponin profile is not reproduced
when assessing the inhibitory activity of a single saponin (PD or HC).
This situation causes that the higher bioactivity exerted by the extracts
might be due to either a saponin that chemically differs from the
standards used or a synergistic effect of all the different saponins con­
tained in the extracts. The second reason might be related to the pre­
sence of other bioactive compounds in the extracts that also have the
ability to inhibit the pancreatic lipase. In this sense, phenolic com­
pounds might probably be exerting synergistic effects with saponins, as
it has been widely reported (Cai et al., 2012; Lee, Mohd Esa, & Loh,
2015). Recently, we evidenced the presence of phenolic compounds in
the extracts from this work and their contribution to the inhibition of
the pancreatic lipase should be considered (Navarro del Hierro et al.,
2020). We have also previously demonstrated that phenolics and sa­
ponins (conceived as total content of inhibitory compounds, TIC) con­
tained in the ethanolic extracts from quinoa and fenugreek were
probably acting in a synergistic manner towards this activity (Herrera
et al., 2019b).
The explanations to why the hydrolyzed extracts inhibited the
pancreatic lipase but the commercial sapogenins did not are very si­
milar to the reasons given for the saponin extracts. The hydrolyzed
extracts also contain a mixture of different aglycones, such as sarsasa­
pogenin, neotigogenin, smilagenin, diosgenin and other steroid sapo­
genins, in the case of fenugreek; or hederagenin, phytolaccagenic acid,
serjanic acid, oleanolic acid and other triterpenoid sapogenins, in the
case of quinoa (Herrera et al., 2019a; Lin, Li, & Lai, 2019; Taylor et al.,
1997). Once more, the exact sapogenin profile of the extracts is not
reproduced when the evaluation of the lipase inhibition is assessed with
only DG and OA. Hence, the demonstrated bioactivity of the hydrolyzed
extracts might be due to other aglycones different to DG and OA, and/
or a synergistic effect of all of them. However, it should not be dis­
carded that in the specific case of these extracts, it seems that other
bioactive compounds might be more actively contributing to the lipase
inhibition than sapogenins are, given the lack of effect of the standards
DG and OA. For this reason, a lack of inhibitory activity against pan­
creatic lipase of the sapogenins contained in HFE and HQE should also
6
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
be considered.
A few contradictory results have been found in the literature re­
garding the inhibition of pancreatic lipase by isolated or pure saponins
and sapogenins. Kwon et al. (2003) isolated dioscin (which, unlike PD,
contains a single sugar chain) and DG from Dioscorea nipponica. They
determined that their lipase inhibitory activity was in the range of
micrograms, whereas the values presented in this study are in the range
of milligrams. Similarly to these authors, Ercan and El (2016) reported
very similar values for the inhibitory activity of DG (52% inhibition at
24 μg/mL) by also using the same method of determination than Kwon
et al. (2003). Nevertheless, Xu, Han, Zheng, Lee, and Sung (2005)
showed that the triterpenoid saponin platycodin D at 0.25 mg/mL
(isolated from Platycodi radix) caused only an approximate 4% inhibi­
tion of the pancreatic lipase, although a 65% inhibition was reached
when the concentration of the saponin was increased to 0.50 mg/mL.
The low inhibition (4%) observed for the triterpenoid saponin platy­
codin D at 0.25 mg/mL resembles the 8% inhibition exerted by the
triterpenoid saponin HC at 0.20 mg/mL in the present study.
3.2. Interference of extracts and standards with the bioaccessibility of
cholesterol
3.2.1. Comparative effect of non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed extracts on the
bioaccessibility of cholesterol
The interference with the bioaccessibility of cholesterol and the
subsequent potential hypocholesterolemic effect of the methanolic ex­
tracts was evaluated in vitro under simulation of the gastrointestinal
digestion of cholesterol in presence of each extract. In addition, β-si­
tosterol (βSIT) was used as a positive control and a digestion without
the extracts was performed as negative control. The amount of bioac­
cessible cholesterol at the end of the digestion in presence of each of the
assayed samples at two different concentrations (5 and 10 mg/mL) is
shown in Fig. 4. Firstly, considering each of the samples individually,
βSIT expectedly reduced the bioaccessible cholesterol, being significant
at the highest concentration evaluated (p = 0.011). Such highest con­
centration caused a 32% reduction on the bioaccessibility of choles­
terol. This value validated the use of this gastrointestinal model to study
in vitro the inhibitory activity of compounds on the bioaccessibility of
cholesterol, as it has been assumed that plant sterols are able to reduce
the absorption of both dietary and biliary cholesterol from the intestinal
tract by 30–50% (Patch, Tapsell, Williams, & Gordon, 2006).
Regarding the effect of the saponin-rich extracts, it was observed
that neither FE nor QE were able to reduce the bioaccessibility of
cholesterol at any of the concentrations assayed and, in fact, the FE
increased the amount of bioaccessible cholesterol by 35% when the
Fig. 4. Amount of bioaccessible cholesterol (mg in
micellar phase) after gastrointestinal digestion of
cholesterol in absence (control) and presence of in­
hibitors (β-sitosterol and extracts from fenugreek and
quinoa at 5 and 10 mg/mL). Bars are significantly
different compared to control if p ≤ 0.05 (*),
p ≤ 0.01 (**) or p ≤ 0.001 (***). βSIT = β-sitos­
terol, QE = quinoa extract, HQE = hydrolyzed
quinoa extract, FE = fenugreek extract,
HFE = hydrolyzed fenugreek extract.
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
extract was digested at the highest concentration (p = 0.032). On the
contrary, both hydrolyzed extracts notably reduced the bioaccessible
cholesterol at both the concentrations assayed, except for HFE at 5 mg/
mL which did not cause a significant decrease. Focusing on the hy­
drolyzed extracts individually, HFE at 10 mg/mL affected the bioac­
cessibility of cholesterol by causing a 59% reduction (p = 0.002), while
HQE was able to reduce the bioaccessibility at the two concentrations
very similarly, that is, a 78% reduction at 10 mg/mL and a 77% re­
duction at 5 mg/mL (p < 0.001). Despite the lack of significant dif­
ferences among the samples that caused a reduction in the bioaccessi­
bility of cholesterol (βSIT, HFE and HQE), it could be confirmed that
HQE was sufficiently bioactive at reducing the cholesterol at the lowest
concentration. This means that the effectiveness of HQE would be
higher than any of the other samples assayed, as half the concentration
is needed if the same reduction is desired to be achieved. This is a very
interesting result, as it suggests that HQE would be a stronger hy­
pocholesterolemic product than the well-known phytosterols.
In order to provide a broader overview of these results and focusing
on how variability factors such as type of extract (non-hydrolyzed/
hydrolyzed), seed (quinoa/fenugreek) and concentration (5/10 mg/
mL) affected the bioaccessibility of cholesterol, it was only found a
significant effect of the type of extract (p < 0.001). Thus, the hydro­
lyzed extracts were significantly better at exerting a hypocholester­
olemic effect than the non-hydrolyzed ones. No significant differences
were found between the two seeds studied (p = 0.304) and the two
concentrations evaluated (p = 0.799). Therefore, the obtained results
would suggest that the transformation of saponin-rich extracts by hy­
drolysis would be an interesting enhancer-strategy to develop bioactive
products whose hypocholesterolemic mechanism is related to the re­
duction of the bioaccessibility of cholesterol.
Among the large number of works assessing the interference of sa­
ponins with the absorption of cholesterol, it has been widely assumed
the ability of these compounds to exert a hypocholesterolemic effect
(Afrose et al., 2009; Zhao, 2016). However, in this work we demon­
strated that saponin-rich extracts from fenugreek and quinoa were
unable to lower the bioaccessible cholesterol in an in vitro gastro­
intestinal model. Such unexpected result could be due to two situations
that may be occurring simultaneously. Firstly, the concentration of
saponins in the extracts may not be enough for them to exert such ef­
fect. And second, the presence of other compounds in the extracts may
be either hindering the cholesterol-reducing effect of saponins or in­
creasing the solubility of cholesterol in the digestion medium. As op­
posed to the extensive literature assessing the hypocholesterolemic ef­
fect of saponins, the available research focusing on the cholesterol-
reducing effects of hydrolyzed saponin-containing extracts is virtually
7
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
non-existent, with the exception of partially-hydrolyzed saponins from
alfalfa, which demonstrated to significantly exert an improved hy­
pocholesterolemic effect in rats (Malinow et al., 1977). However, it was
not ruled out an additive effect of other components of alfalfa that may
had bound to the bile acids necessary for cholesterol absorption. In this
regard, we have recently shown that the hydrolysis of the saponin-rich
extracts from the present study caused an enrichment in other bioactive
compounds, including phytosterols, that may have been synergistically
contributing to the observed hypocholesterolemic effect (Herrera et al.,
2019a; Navarro del Hierro et al., 2020). In fact, it is worth highlighting
that a significant negative correlation was found between the total
phytosterols content of the extracts and the amount of bioaccessible
cholesterol (r = −0.934; p < 0.001) (Supplementary material), sug­
gesting the likely role of these phytochemicals in the observed effect of
the hydrolyzed extracts. However, together with phytosterols, other
compounds might be involved, since the standard βSIT did not cause a
very strong limitation on the bioaccessibility of cholesterol. A deeper
insight into the elucidation of which other compounds contained in the
hydrolyzed extracts may be synergistically exerting the bioaccesible
cholesterol-reducing effects together with phytosterols would be of
further interest. In this sense, the recent exhaustive characterization of
these extracts performed by ourselved may be recommended (Navarro
del Hierro et al., 2020).
3.2.2. Effect of standards of saponins and sapogenins on the bioaccessibility
of cholesterol
As performed in Section 3.1.2 for the assessment of standards on the
inhibition of the pancreatic lipase, it was considered again relevant to
study and compare to what extent were saponins and sapogenins con­
tained in the extracts responsible for the interference on the bioacces­
sibility of cholesterol. For this purpose, the effect of the pure com­
pounds HC, PD, OA and DG was evaluated under the same conditions.
The amount of bioaccessible cholesterol at the end of the digestion
in presence of each of the commercial compounds and compared to
their equivalent extract at 10 mg/mL is shown in Fig. 5. Firstly, likewise
the QE, the saponin HC did not cause any effect on the bioaccessibility
of cholesterol, suggesting that the saponins obtained from quinoa are
not effective or their concentration in the extract is not enough for them
to exert a hypocholesterolemic effect. On the contrary, PD did cause a
23% reduction on the bioaccessible cholesterol compared to the control
(p = 0.035). The cholesterol-reducing effects of PD have been con­
firmed in vivo with a blood cholesterol reduction close to 40% and an
improved HDL/LDL ratio, although its mechanism of action has been
proposed to be, at least partially, linked to the inhibition of HMG-CoA,
an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol (Wang et al.,
Fig. 5. Amount of bioaccessible cholesterol (mg in
micellar phase) after gastrointestinal digestion of
cholesterol in absence (control) and presence of
commercial standards of saponins and sapogenins
and their corresponding extracts at 10 mg/mL. (#)
Significant differences between control and com­
mercial compound. (*) Significant differences be­
tween extract and commercial compound.
QE = quinoa extract, HC = hederacoside C,
FE = fenugreek extract, PD = protodioscin,
HQE = hydrolyzed quinoa extract, OA = oleanolic
acid, HFE = hydrolyzed fenugreek extract,
DG = diosgenin.
J. Navarro Del Hierro, et al.
2010). Here, we demonstrated that PD was able to interfere with the
bioaccessibility of cholesterol, although the exact mechanism by which
this saponin exerted its hypocholesterolemic effect might need to be
further elucidated (Zhao, 2016).
When comparing the effect of PD with that of the FE, no significant
differences were found between them (p = 0.072) in terms of the
amount of bioaccessible cholesterol at the end of the digestion.
Nevertheless, a trend to differ was clearly observed between the two
samples. In any case, the effects exerted by PD show that, as previously
suggested, other compounds in the FE would be either enhancing the
bioaccessibility of cholesterol or inhibiting the hypocholesterolemic
effect of the saponins derived from fenugreek, a seed with widely
proven beneficial effects on hyperlipidemia (Ulbricht et al., 2007). It
should not be discarded, however, that saponins from the FE would
exert a hypocholesterolemic effect by other mechanisms not assessed in
the present work, such as those related to accelerated cholesterol me­
tabolism, inhibited cholesterol synthesis, and facilitated reverse cho­
lesterol transport, as recently observed in rats (Chen, Lei et al., 2017).
On the other hand, regarding the effect of pure sapogenins, neither
OA nor DG affected the bioaccessibility of cholesterol compared to the
control digestion, as opposed to both HQE and HFE, which as pre­
viously demonstrated did exert a hypocholesterolemic effect. When
establishing differences between the extracts and the commercial sa­
pogenins, only OA and HQE were found to be different (p = 0.04).
However, similar to what occurred to FE and PD, the aglycone DG and
HFE showed a clear trend to be different (p = 0.065). These results
would confirm that the aglycones in the hydrolyzed extracts were not
responsible for the effect observed and possibly different compounds in
the extracts, such as phytosterols, might be actively contributing to the
reduction of the bioaccessible cholesterol, as previously demonstrated
for the correlation found between the phytosterol content and the
amount of bioaccessible cholesterol.
It should be taken into account, though, that the lack of effect ob­
served for the aglycones in this in vitro study does not necessarily mean
that these compounds are worthless and hence should be discarded for
the further assessment of their cholesterol-reducing abilities. On the
contrary, it has been confirmed that OA and DG do not physically in­
teract with cholesterol, such as its displacement from the mixed mi­
celles, nor cause the precipitation of other components of the digestion,
such as bile salts, mechanisms that otherwise would lead to an overall
reduction in the bioaccessibility of cholesterol. In fact, it has been very
recently proposed that OA and DG exert hypocholesterolemic effects by
mechanisms involved in the expression of certain genes. In the case of
DG, the main proposed mechanism for its cholesterol-lowering effect is
related to regulating intestinal NPC1L1 expression (a protein re­
sponsible for the intestinal absorption of cholesterol) in a time- and
dose-dependent manner and, in addition, DG may also promote cho­
lesterol efflux by up-regulating the expression of ABCG5/G8 in the liver
(Li et al., 2019). In the case of OA, its hypolipidemic effects have been
validated in different animal models via the regulation of the miR-98-
5p/PGC-1β axis, and the downregulation of AdipoR2 simultaneously to
the upregulation of PPARγ and AdipoR1 (Chen, Wen et al., 2017; Luo
et al., 2017).
4. Conclusions
As summary, extracts from fenugreek and quinoa are able to inhibit
the pancreatic lipase and the hydrolysis of them only improves the
bioactivity of the hydrolyzed quinoa extract, and not that of fenugreek,
which remains the same. Saponins contained in the non-hydrolyzed
extracts actively participate in the inhibition of the enzyme, although
presumably in a synergistic manner with other compounds of the ex­
tracts. Additionally, the role of the sapogenins contained in the hy­
drolyzed extracts on the lipase inhibition remains unclear and further
studies assessing the effect of a larger number of aglycones may be of
interest.
8
Food Chemistry 338 (2021) 128113
In terms of a potential hypocholesterolemic effect, the hydrolysis of
non-bioactive saponin-rich extracts from fenugreek and quinoa leads to
the production of strong bioactive extracts, whose effect is comparable
or even superior to that exerted by plant sterols. The lack of effect of
saponins of the non-hydrolyzed extracts, especially in the case of fe­
nugreek, may be due to interactions with other compounds contained in
them, as the saponin protodioscin alone is able to hinder the bioac­
cessibility of cholesterol. On the other hand, sapogenins contained in
the hydrolyzed extracts seem not to be responsible for the strong cho­
lesterol-reducing properties of these extracts, as confirmed by the lack
of effect shown by the sapogenins oleanolic acid and diosgenin. The
phytosterols-enrichment of the hydrolyzed extracts is shown, at least
partially, as one of the factors related to the limitation of the bioac­
cessibility cholesterol by these extracts.
Finally, it is interesting to remark that the hydrolysis process of
saponin-rich extracts allows developing multibioactive extracts that
simultaneously show the inhibition of pancreatic lipase and the in­
hibition of the bioaccessibility of cholesterol. The combination of both
bioactivities in one single product would be truly attractive against
pathologies related to lipid metabolism such as hyperlipidemia, which
is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular
diseases. In the specific case of the current study, the hydrolyzed extract
of quinoa would be the most promising candidate to be explored in
further studies as a multibioactive extract against hyperlipidemia.
5. Funding sources
This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y
Competitividad, Spain (AGL2016-76736-C3-1-R) and the Community of
Madrid, Spain (ALIBIRD2020-CM, S2018/BAA-4343). Joaquín Navarro
del Hierro thanks the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte for
funding his research with a FPU predoctoral contract (FPU 15/04236).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Joaquín Navarro Del Hierro: Investigation, Formal analysis,
Writing - original draft, Visualization, Supervision. Gema Casado-
Hidalgo: Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft,
Visualization. Guillermo Reglero: Funding acquisition. Diana Martin:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - original
draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ­
ence the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128113.
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