Sapogenins ginseng

Shibata, S., Tanaka, O., Ando, T., Sado, M., Tsushima, S., and Ohsawa, T. (1966). Chemical studies on oriental plant drugs. XIV. Protopanaxadiol, a genuin sapogenin of ginseng saponins. Cheni. Pharm. Bull. 14, 595-600. 

Shibata S, Fujita M, Itokawa H, Tanaka O. Studies on the constituents of Japanese and Chinese crude drugs. XL Panaxadiol, a sapogenin of Ginseng roots. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1963 1 759. Shibata S. Chemistry and cancer preventing activities of ginseng saponins and some related triterpenoid compounds. J. Korean Med. Sci. 2001 16(suppl S) S28-S37. 

Sitosterol is a steroid sapogenin that has been isolated from ginseng. Approximately 50-60% of a dose of (3 -sitosterol is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract in rats (79). After oral administration of radiolabeled ginsenoside Rgl, blood radioactivity peaked at 2.1 hours. Bioavailability was 49% (80). 

As regards the chemical constituents of Panax spp., the presence of saponins in American Ginseng was reported as early as 1854 (7). Since the beginning of this century, a number of Japanese, European and Korean chemists have concerned themselves with isolation and structure elucidation of Ginseng saponins these include Asahina (2), Kondo (i), Kotake (4 Wagner-Jauregg (5), Horhammer (6) and their coworkers. However, even the basic skeleton of the major sapogenin was not characterized until 1960. 

Since 1958, Shibata and his successors have conducted chemical studies on the saponins of the crude drug. After many twists and turns, it was determined that the major saponins of Ginseng were not oleanane oligoglycosides which are very common in nature, but that the genuine sapogenins were represented by triterpenes of the dammarane type. This was the first example of the occurrence of dammarane saponins in nature. The complications encountered in the isolation and structure determination were mainly due to an unexpected acid catalyzed epimerization of the tertiary hydroxyl group on c-20 of the carbon skeleton which was followed by cyclization of the side chain. This undesirable reaction accompanied acid hydrolysis of the saponins to the sapogenins. 

Acid Catalyzed Reactions of Dammarane Type Triterpenes and the Genuine Sapogenin of Ginseng... 

Shibata, S., M. Fujita, H. Itokawa, O. Tanaka, and T. Ishii Studies on the Constituents of Japanese and Chinese Crude Drugs XL Panaxadiol, a Sapogenin of Ginseng Roots (1). Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 11, 759 (1963). 

Shibata, S., O. Tanaka, M. Sado, and S. Tsushima On the Genuine Sapogenin of Ginseng. Tetrahedron Letters 1963, 795. 

Nagai, M., T. Ando, N. Tanaka, O. Tanaka, and S. Shibata Chemical Studies on the Oriental Plant Drugs XXVIII. Saponins and Sapogenins of Ginseng Stereochemistry of the Sapogenin of Ginsenosides-Rbi, -Rb2 and -Rc. Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 20,1212 (1972). 

Asakawa, j., R. Kasai, K. Yamasaki, and O. Tanaka C-NMR Study of Ginseng Sapogenins and Their Related Dammarane Type Triterpenes. Tetrahedron 33, 1935 (1977). 

Kasai, R., K. Matsuura, O. Tanaka, S. Sanada, and J. Shoji Mass Spectra of Trimethylsilyl Ethers of Dammarane-type Ginseng-sapogenins and Their Related Compounds.Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 25, 3277 (1977). 

Saponins and Sapogenins from Callus Tissue of Panax ginseng. Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Japan) 21, 98 (1973). 

Shibata, S., T. Ando, O. Tanaka, Y. Meguro, K. Soma, and Y. Iida Saponins and Sapogenins of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer and Some Panax spp. Yakugaku Zasshi 85, 7753 (1965). 

Kim, j., and E. J. Staba Studies on the Ginseng Plants (1). Saponins and Sapogenins from American Ginseng. Korean J. Pharmacog. 4, 193 (1973). 

Shibata S, Fujita M, Itokawa H, Tanako O, Ishii T (1963) Studies on the constitutmts of Japanese and Chinese Crude Drugs. XI. Panaxadiol, a sapogenin of ginseng roots. (1). Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 11 759-761... 

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