STEROIDAL SAPONINS FROM ASPARAGUS FILICINUS

Three new steroidal saponins, aspafilioside A,B and C together with a known saponin 22-methoxy ASP-Ⅳ and β-ecdysone were isolated from the root of Asparagus fiticinus Buch.-Ham. (Chinese name as xiao-bai-bu), a folk medicine of the minorities in Yunnan Province, China, used for the treatment of bronchitis, pneumonitis and cough. Their structures were established as sarsasapogenin-3-O-β-D-xy lopyranosyl (1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside (Ⅰ), sarsasapogenin-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4) α-L-arabinopyranosyl (1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (Ⅱ)and (25S)-5β-furost-3β, 22,26-triol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyi (1→4) α-L-arabinopyranosyl (1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside-26-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (Ⅲ) by spectral and chemical methods.