An enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay using polyclonal antibodies against bacopaside I

Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. (Brahmi) is a medicinal plant used as a memory enhancer in Ayurvedic medicines. Its active components are triterpenoid glycosides namely pseudojujubogenin and jujubogenin glycosides. In order to analyze these saponin glycosides, an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was developed using polyclonal antibodies against bacopaside I, one of the pseudojujubogenin glycosides found in the plant. Bacopaside I was conjugated with a bovine albumin serum (BSA) to prepare an immunogen. The bacopaside I–BSA conjugate was immunized to a rabbit for producing polyclonal antibodies (PAbs). The results showed that the antibodies were raised specifically against pseudojujubogenin glycosides. An ELISA using anti-bacopaside I PAbs was performed in the range of 1.95–62.5 ng mL−1 of bacopaside I and the limit of detection was 0.1 ng mL−1. The method was validated and the applicability of the ELISA for analyzing saponin glycosides from Brahmi was demonstrated.