Structures of Minor Saponins

About fifty saponins have so far been isolated from Glycyrrhiza species. Their structures are shown in Table 2, and their physical properties and plant sources are described in Table 12. 

B2 (59) has been noted to exhibit activity which promotes restoration of hepatocyte function against carbon tetrachloride induced liver cell injury in rat (206). 

That licorice may act as a solubilizing agent in traditional Chinese medicines has been reported by Sasaki et al. (207). Aqueous solutions of the glucoside ester (58) solubilize water insoluble substances such as a-tocopherol and oleanolic acid. This may be a restatement of a description of licorice in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, which states that licorice harmonizes a medicine with any drugs. 

Uralsaponin B (70) has been isolated from G. uralensis by Zhang et al. (127). The saponin is a positional isomer of glycyrrhizic acid (2) with respect to the attachment of the outer glucuronyl group. 

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