Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Chemistry (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Chemistry
Advisor 1
Tarun Dam
Committee Member 1
Smitha Rao-Hatti
Committee Member 2
Lynn R. Mazzoleni
Abstract
Glycosides, a group of clinically important plant-derived natural products, can kill a wide variety of cells (including pathogens and cancer cells) by disrupting cell membranes. Structurally, a glycoside contains a hydrophobic core, which is covalently linked to one or more sugar (monosaccharide) molecules. Glycosides are generally hemolytic, meaning they lyse (disintegrate) red blood cells (RBCs). Therefore, hemolysis assays using rabbit or human RBC are performed to identify glycosides and to measure their activity. Despite their clinical importance, most plant glycosides are difficult to purify. This thesis describes the isolation and purification of a new glycoside from a monocot plant by using an activity-guided fractionation workflow. The glycoside in crude mixture was extracted from the plant tissues with methanol. The methanol extract was separated by solvent partitioning by using organic solvents and water. The water layer was dried and was subjected to chromatographic separation techniques including P100 size exclusion chromatography (SEC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), silica-gel chromatography and HPLC. After separation, structural analysis was done by MALDI-MS and ESI-MS. The separated glycoside has a mass (m/z) of 1737 Da. ESI spectra and acid hydrolysis data indicate that the glycoside is composed of a core aglycone and several structural sugars. Ligand binding property and thermal stability of the glycoside were also determined and its hemolytic effects on red blood cells were documented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The important discovery of a new glycoside, as described in this thesis, sets the stage for future studies for assessing the antimicrobial and anticancer properties of this new bioactive compound.
Recommended Citation
Gasco, Lexie M., "ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION OF A NEW BIOACTIVE PLANT GLYCOSIDE", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2026.
https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr/2196