Studies on the Constituents of Cucurbitaceae Plants. XIII. On the Saponin Constituents of Luffa cylindrica ROEM. (2)

In connection with our studies on the chemical evaluation of Cucurbitaceae plants, isolation and identification of saponins of fruits and herb of Luffa cyclindrica ROEM. were carried out. From fruits, nine saponins 2-5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15 were isolated. The saponins 6, 10, 11, 14 and 15 were identified as lucyosides-A (6), -E (10), -F (11), 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl hederagenin (14), 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl oleanolic acid (15), respectively, the three former of which have already been isolated from herb of this plant. The structures of new saponins, named lucyosides-J (2), -K (3), -L (4) and -M (5) were established as 3, 28-O-bis-β-D-glucopyranosyl 21β-hydroxygypsogenin, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl gypsogenin, 3-O-β-sophorosyl-28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl gypsogenin and 3-O-(6'-acetoxy-β-O-D-glucopyranosyl)-28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl gypsogenin, respectively. From herb, a new saponin, named lucyoside-I (1) was isolated as minor saponin and established as 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl arjunolic acid.