Ginsenoside-Ra1 and ginsenoside-Ra2, new dammarane-saponins of ginseng roots.

Two new dammarane-saponins, named ginsenoside-Ra1 (1) and ginsenoside-Ra2 (2) were isolated from the root of Panax ginseng C.A. MEYER by means of chromatography on silica gel and reversed phase chromatography on highly porous polymer. The structures of saponins 1 and 2 were established to be 20 (S)-protopanaxadiol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside-20-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-arabinopyranosyl (1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside and 20 (S)-protopanaxadiol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside-20-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→2)-α-L-arabinofuranosyl (1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, respectively.