Poroporo potential
Sir, — The article (“The Press,” October 26) on extraction of solasodine from
poroporo (Solanum aviculare) was of great interest. However, no references were made to the pioneering studies of the late Professor L. H. Briggs and his research students at Auckland Uni-' versity College some 30 years ago, which have made this current development possible. Professor Briggs was the first to isolate and identify solasodine from Solanum aviculare. By using the laborious, classical chemical techniques then available, he was able to elucidate the chemical structure of solasodine and the structural formula he then proposed for the solasodine molecule is still accepted. He was the first in New Zealand and probably elsewhere, some 20 years ago, to advocate that solasodine extracted from locally grown Solanum species, be used as an alternative to diosgenin as raw material for the manufacture of steroid drugs. — Yours, etc., E. G. BROOKER. New Plymouth. November 2, 1978.
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Press, 9 November 1978, Page 16
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153Poroporo potential Press, 9 November 1978, Page 16
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