Diosgenin fromAllium albidum

Abstract

By preliminary analyses, we established the presence of steroid sapogenins in Allium albidum Fisch. (family Liliaceae) growing in the Georgian SSR. These were isolated by the direct hydrolysis of the saponins without previous extraction from the raw material [1, 2]. The sapogenins were extracted from the hydrolysate with petroleum ether and petroleum ether-ethanol (95 : 5). The mixture of unpurified sapogenins was separated by adsorption chromatography on alumina. In addition to paper-chromatographic analysis, the method of thin-layer paper chromatography proposed by us employing talc as the adsorbent and a benzene-ether (7 : 3) system of solvents was used. The sapogenins were detected by means of Mattheus' reagent [3, 4].

Steroidal saponins from the genus Allium

“…Ex M. Bieb. Diosgenin [ 4 ] Kereselidze et al ( 1970 ) Hecogenin [ 7 ] Kravets et al ( 1990 ) Ruscogenin [ 17 ] Pkheidze et al ( 1971 ) A. albiflorus Saponins present Ismailov and Aliev ( 1976 ) A. albopilosum C.H. Wright Agigenin [ 34 ] Mimaki et al ( 1993 ) Neoagigenin [ 36 ] Mimaki et al ( 1993 ) Alliogenin [ 49 ] Mimaki et al ( 1993 ) AGINOSIDE [ 93 ] Agigenin [ 34 ] 3- O -β- d -Glc-(1 → 2)-[β- d -Xyl-(1 → 3)]- O -β- d -Glc-(1 → 4)- O -β- d -Gal Mimaki et al ( 1993 ) [ 94 , 123 ] (25 R , S )-5α-spirostane-2α,3β,6β-triol [ 34 , 36 ] 3- O -β- d -Glc-(1 → 2)-[3- O -acetyl-β- d -Xyl-(1 → 3)]- O -β- d -Glc-(1 → 4)- O -β- d -Gal Mimaki et al ( 1993 ) ...…”

“…Steroidal sapogenins and saponins have been identified so far in over 40 different Allium species. The earliest reports on Allium saponins date back to the 1970s and dealt with identification of diosgenin in A. albidum (Kereselidze et al 1970 ) and alliogenin in the bulbs of A. giganteum (Khristulas et al 1970 ). Further studies performed worldwide in the following years led to the isolation of a large number of new compounds.…”