Saponins are secondary metabolites with high molecular weight. They present in a wide range of plant species and are distributed throughout the bark, leaves, stems, roots and even flowers. Saponins are bitter in taste and in recent years, they have received considerable attention because of their various biological activities including hepatoprotective, anti-ulcer, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, ad...

An HPLC/ESI/MS method has been developed to identify and quantify the spirostanol glycosides in the rhizomes of five Polygonatum species. The relative distribution of two steroidal saponins in each extract was established using the selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode via an electrospray ionization (ESI) source. It was found that there were significant differences in the amount of spirostanol gl...

Two steroidal saponins, hemeroside A and B, were isolated from the aerial part of Hemerocallis fulva var. kwanso for the first time. The structures of these compounds were established as 24S-hydroxy-neotokorogenin 1-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl 24-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) and isorhodeasapogenin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)-[beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta...

Costus spicatus, used in Brazilian traditional medicine to expel kidney stones, contains steroidal saponins with different chemical characteristics. In spite of its popular utilization as potent diuretic, no scientific reports correlate this activity with the chemical constituents of the extract. Therefore, two steroidal saponins (3 beta,22 alpha,25R)-26-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2-methoxyfuro...

Four new spirostanol saponins, named pavitnosides A-D (1-4), with six known steroidal saponins 5-10 were isolated from the rhizomes of Paris vietnamensis. Their chemical structures were determined based on extensive spectroscopic studies and chemical methods. The aglycones of pavitnoside B and pavitnoside C were not reported in previous work. The cytotoxicity of all saponins was evaluated again...