Abstract
By using the soil bacterial hydrolysis method and by enzymatic hydrolysis, spergulagenin A (1), which was previously obtained along with two oleanene-type sapogenols (oleanolic acid (2) and methyl spergulagenate (3)) by acid hydrolysis of the total saponin mixture extracted from the root of Mollugo spergula L. (Molluginaceae), has been shown to be a genuine sapogenol. In addition, enzymatic hydrolysis using crude naringinase of the same saponin mixture has led to the isolation of a new bisnorhopanetype sapogenol named spergulatriol (4). Based on the chemical and spectral evidence, the structure of spergulatriol has been elucidated to be 4 and it has been demonstrated that spergulatriol (4) is the genuine sapogenol of isoanhydrospergulatriol (5), which is a dienic bisnorhopane-type sapogenol and is isolated as a minor sapogenol from the acid hydrolysate of total saponin mixture.
