Abstract
Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge is a plant of the Liliaceae family growing wild in China where its bulb has been used for the past two centuries as “Ti-mu” as home remedies for diuretic, expectorant, antitussive, and others. The plant was imported into Japan some 300 years ago and used as home remedies. A kind of saponin, m.p. 278-280°, was recently isolated from its bulb. The hydrolysis of the crude saponin with hydrochloric acid yielded two kinds of steroidal sapogenins of m.p. 198° and 242-243°. The former was identified as the chief component and was found identical with sarsa-sapogenin. The latter was assumed to correspond to formula C27H42O4or C27H44O4, but due to the minute amount available, no further examinations were made.
